Merry Christmas!!!
Hello everyone! I hope you all have a great Christmas!
We have had a great week! Here are some highlights:
1) We had our branch Christmas party. We had Thai food. It was super good. We had a nice little slideshow and video. We also had a white elephant gift exchange. It was really fun! I got 2 pounds of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. I was so excited!! But what was even better was seeing Sister Park so excited to get rice!! But at the bottom was a gift card but she was more excited about the rice :)
2) We went to the Visitors Center and we got to see the lights. It wasn't the best trip there I've ever had. We had to wait outside in the cold for 1 1/2 hours and then the concert we went to wasn't the greatest. But I was still happy to see the lights :)
3) We had our Christmas devotional this week. It was so incredible! The first part was hearing from President and Sister Weidman. Then the second part was reading the Christmas story. I got to help :) It was super good to hear the story again. And there were some really good solos too :) Then the last hour was testimonies. And we got to take pictures with Pres. and Sis. Weidman. And we had a great dinner :)
4) I finished the Book of Mormon this week! I love it and I didn't want it to end!! I know it's true and I love the way it makes me feel and how it helped me strengthen my relationship with Christ!
5) I'm excited to call home for Christmas!!
I love you all and I'm so grateful to have this time to represent the Child whose birth you all are celebrating :)
Love, Hermana Montgomery
Saturday, December 27, 2014
A Week of Great Experiences! Dec 15, 2014
Hello everyone!!!! The countdown to Christmas continues!!!
This week has been incredible!! We have seen so many miracles and the blessings of the Lord pouring out on us!
To start off we received 2 new investigators...not just referrals but people who had already been taught something! The first one's name is Othneil. He is amazing. He has a thirst for the gospel that I haven't seen before. He is truly prepared!! The second one is named Zach. He went to a FHE at a members home with the elders and they invited him to be baptized and he accepted! We called him and talked about it but we haven't been able to meet yet. Cesar is doing great, he has a temporary setback this week but has come back around! He even rearranged work so that he could come to sacrament meeting. And he attended Jonathan's baptism and loved it!
In addition to all of this greatness, Jonathan Williams was baptized!!! Amid all the craziness and stress we were able to pull it off and it went well. His non-member mom was there and two of his non-member friends. He was so happy. He even bore his testimony at the end (super big deal because he is soooo shy)! Lots of people came out to support him and I know he felt the love. The next day he showed up in his white shirt and tie that we bought him to be confirmed! I'm so proud of him!!
Last night we had some great experiences as well. We went to find some less actives and ended up finding 2 different people. The first one we found was the younger brother of whom we were looking for. We had a great talk with him and said a prayer with him. I think the Spirit really touched his heart. The next one we talked to was a 14 year old boy who is very religious. As we talked about Christ, his heart was softened. When I invited him to meet with missionaries, he thought for a second and fumbled over his words saying it was the first time he had every heard of this and um, ah, etc...then he said Yes. We prayed with him as well. Both of these experiences confirmed to me the scripture that says "open your mouth and it shall be filled". I knew my lips were moving and sound was coming out but it wasn't until I heard my own echo that I knew what I was saying. The Lord truly does use us if we are willing to be the instruments in his hands.
To top it all off we had the time with Elder and Sister Baxter!!! He is a member of the 70. He is from Scotland and she is from Great Britain. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to their accents :) Sister Park and I were selected to have a special interview with them on Friday night! It was such an amazing opportunity to sit down and talk with them about missionary life and it's challenges. They asked us individually what concerns or issues that we had and then counseled us. Their advice was so inspiring and uplifting, not only for in the mission but after as well. The next day we were in a zone conference with them from 9:30 am- 4 pm :) It was incredible!! I loved them and the things that they shared! I felt so uplifted and released from whatever unseen causes were holding me back. It was indescribable the liberation that I felt as they spoke and counseled us. They talked a lot about being happy in our circumstances and what we can do to make others happy. They talked about dating and marriage and a lot about the Plan of Salvation and family history work. It was so awesome! I wish you all could have been there!!!
I'm so grateful to be a missionary! There is no other way I would have spent my year. I have learned so much and I have changed for the better. I truly have come to understand that Christ is the gift and I am forever grateful for that! I don't know where I would be without Him and the gospel. I don't even want to try and imagine. I'm grateful to my mission president for challenging us to read the Book of Mormon focusing on Christ. I have honestly gained a testimony of the divinity of the Book of Mormon and the promise that we can get nearer to God through it. I am living proof of that! And then to top it off it's Christmas! The most wonderful time of the year when we get to remember all the blessings we have been given !! I love it and I love all of you! Thank you for your out pouring of love this year and especially this Christmas! Thank you all so much!
I love you all,
Hermana Makeesa Montgomery
This week has been incredible!! We have seen so many miracles and the blessings of the Lord pouring out on us!
To start off we received 2 new investigators...not just referrals but people who had already been taught something! The first one's name is Othneil. He is amazing. He has a thirst for the gospel that I haven't seen before. He is truly prepared!! The second one is named Zach. He went to a FHE at a members home with the elders and they invited him to be baptized and he accepted! We called him and talked about it but we haven't been able to meet yet. Cesar is doing great, he has a temporary setback this week but has come back around! He even rearranged work so that he could come to sacrament meeting. And he attended Jonathan's baptism and loved it!
In addition to all of this greatness, Jonathan Williams was baptized!!! Amid all the craziness and stress we were able to pull it off and it went well. His non-member mom was there and two of his non-member friends. He was so happy. He even bore his testimony at the end (super big deal because he is soooo shy)! Lots of people came out to support him and I know he felt the love. The next day he showed up in his white shirt and tie that we bought him to be confirmed! I'm so proud of him!!
Last night we had some great experiences as well. We went to find some less actives and ended up finding 2 different people. The first one we found was the younger brother of whom we were looking for. We had a great talk with him and said a prayer with him. I think the Spirit really touched his heart. The next one we talked to was a 14 year old boy who is very religious. As we talked about Christ, his heart was softened. When I invited him to meet with missionaries, he thought for a second and fumbled over his words saying it was the first time he had every heard of this and um, ah, etc...then he said Yes. We prayed with him as well. Both of these experiences confirmed to me the scripture that says "open your mouth and it shall be filled". I knew my lips were moving and sound was coming out but it wasn't until I heard my own echo that I knew what I was saying. The Lord truly does use us if we are willing to be the instruments in his hands.
To top it all off we had the time with Elder and Sister Baxter!!! He is a member of the 70. He is from Scotland and she is from Great Britain. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to their accents :) Sister Park and I were selected to have a special interview with them on Friday night! It was such an amazing opportunity to sit down and talk with them about missionary life and it's challenges. They asked us individually what concerns or issues that we had and then counseled us. Their advice was so inspiring and uplifting, not only for in the mission but after as well. The next day we were in a zone conference with them from 9:30 am- 4 pm :) It was incredible!! I loved them and the things that they shared! I felt so uplifted and released from whatever unseen causes were holding me back. It was indescribable the liberation that I felt as they spoke and counseled us. They talked a lot about being happy in our circumstances and what we can do to make others happy. They talked about dating and marriage and a lot about the Plan of Salvation and family history work. It was so awesome! I wish you all could have been there!!!
I'm so grateful to be a missionary! There is no other way I would have spent my year. I have learned so much and I have changed for the better. I truly have come to understand that Christ is the gift and I am forever grateful for that! I don't know where I would be without Him and the gospel. I don't even want to try and imagine. I'm grateful to my mission president for challenging us to read the Book of Mormon focusing on Christ. I have honestly gained a testimony of the divinity of the Book of Mormon and the promise that we can get nearer to God through it. I am living proof of that! And then to top it off it's Christmas! The most wonderful time of the year when we get to remember all the blessings we have been given !! I love it and I love all of you! Thank you for your out pouring of love this year and especially this Christmas! Thank you all so much!
I love you all,
Hermana Makeesa Montgomery
December 8, 2014
Hello Everyone!
Time is short today but it has been a good week! Here are some highlights:
1- We found new people to teach!!! It made us super duper happy!!
2- I made a full 7 course Korean meal this week! (I ate seaweed...)
3- We had dinner with Cesar! He is so awesome!!!
4- We had our ward Christmas party. It was really nice and the food was delicious! Cesar came too :)
5- We had a really cool experience at church yesterday. We had 2 basketball teams from New Zealand visit our sacrament meeting. It was so awesome! They all came in in their uniforms and 7 of them are members and they bore their testimonies. Then after sacrament meeting they all introduced themselves and told about their families. Then they recited their honor code and sang us their academy song. It was so awesome! One of the coolest experiences I've had at church!
6- Today we went to an open air market! It was so much fun! Tons of stuff to buy and lots of people!
7- We had two days straight of rain! Not just a sprinkle but downpour. It was really nice but I got a cold.....
Big thing coming up: Elder Baxter from the 70's is coming to tour our mission. He will meet with us Friday and I'm leading the music :)
Anyways! I love you all and I hope you all are doing well.
I hope you all have had a chance to watch the HE IS THE GIFT video!!! If not do it and then share it!!! I'm so grateful to be a missionary and see all the miracles that happen everyday!!
Love, Hermana Makeesa Montgomery
Time is short today but it has been a good week! Here are some highlights:
1- We found new people to teach!!! It made us super duper happy!!
2- I made a full 7 course Korean meal this week! (I ate seaweed...)
3- We had dinner with Cesar! He is so awesome!!!
4- We had our ward Christmas party. It was really nice and the food was delicious! Cesar came too :)
5- We had a really cool experience at church yesterday. We had 2 basketball teams from New Zealand visit our sacrament meeting. It was so awesome! They all came in in their uniforms and 7 of them are members and they bore their testimonies. Then after sacrament meeting they all introduced themselves and told about their families. Then they recited their honor code and sang us their academy song. It was so awesome! One of the coolest experiences I've had at church!
6- Today we went to an open air market! It was so much fun! Tons of stuff to buy and lots of people!
7- We had two days straight of rain! Not just a sprinkle but downpour. It was really nice but I got a cold.....
Big thing coming up: Elder Baxter from the 70's is coming to tour our mission. He will meet with us Friday and I'm leading the music :)
Anyways! I love you all and I hope you all are doing well.
I hope you all have had a chance to watch the HE IS THE GIFT video!!! If not do it and then share it!!! I'm so grateful to be a missionary and see all the miracles that happen everyday!!
Love, Hermana Makeesa Montgomery
December 1, 2014!
Hello Everyone!!
So Thanksgiving was really good!! We had three dinners. Two were planned- one was not!! All the food was good and I tried pecan pie! It was so yummy!!! There is so much to be thankful for!!
So good news of the week: Jonathan committed to be baptized on December 30th!! And he came to church early and brought a friend!!! It was so exciting!!! We also have a few more investigators this week that we are going to extend baptismal invitations too.
Church was so good yesterday!! The talks were given by two return missionaries! The one talk was so good! They are going to start coming to our branch so I'm really excited about that! They are going to help us out a lot!
I have been so touched by the Book of Mormon reading this week! I have been reading in 3 Nephi were Christ comes and it teaching the people. I have felt so close to my Savior this week as I've been reading. I was so nice to feel of that love and come to feel that the Book of Mormon is true. I'm so grateful to my Savior for everything he has done for me!! I love him so much! I'm so blessed to have the gospel in my life and I'm so glad to be here sharing it!
I hope you all check out christmas.mormon.org!!! It is awesome!! Share it with everyone!!!
I love you all! Have a great week!!!
Love, Hermana Makeesa Montgomery
So Thanksgiving was really good!! We had three dinners. Two were planned- one was not!! All the food was good and I tried pecan pie! It was so yummy!!! There is so much to be thankful for!!
So good news of the week: Jonathan committed to be baptized on December 30th!! And he came to church early and brought a friend!!! It was so exciting!!! We also have a few more investigators this week that we are going to extend baptismal invitations too.
Church was so good yesterday!! The talks were given by two return missionaries! The one talk was so good! They are going to start coming to our branch so I'm really excited about that! They are going to help us out a lot!
I have been so touched by the Book of Mormon reading this week! I have been reading in 3 Nephi were Christ comes and it teaching the people. I have felt so close to my Savior this week as I've been reading. I was so nice to feel of that love and come to feel that the Book of Mormon is true. I'm so grateful to my Savior for everything he has done for me!! I love him so much! I'm so blessed to have the gospel in my life and I'm so glad to be here sharing it!
I hope you all check out christmas.mormon.org!!! It is awesome!! Share it with everyone!!!
I love you all! Have a great week!!!
Love, Hermana Makeesa Montgomery
Happy Thanksgiving!
Hello everyone!!!!
I hope you all enjoy your turkey and yummy pie!!! But most of all- Family Time and Black Friday shopping!!! I'm a little jealous!!!
This week has been a tough but blessed one for me!
This area is really different and there are challenges but hey everything is hard the first week!!!
Here are some of this week's miracles!!! We were able to set 7 appointments for this week with new people!! We also contacted a guy named Cesear. We called and left him a voice mail and about 20 minutes later he called and said we could come right then. We did and we had a good talk with him and he came to church on Sunday! Our investigator Jonathan's car got towed so we walked 1 mile with him to church! :)
Another girl named Kenya came to church too!! And a less active we visited my second day here. She is so awesome!!!
So my first Sunday....I taught the gospel principles lesson and we had a 2 hour branch council meeting. It was a long but good day.
We currently don't have any plans for Thanksgiving but we will see if anyone offers to feed us...if not Ramen it is!!! hahahaha Just kidding....I have food :)
Anyways I hope you all have a great week and really think about what you are grateful for! I'm grateful for all of you and for your love and support! I'm grateful to be a missionary- to represent Jesus Christ! I'm grateful for the people that have gotten to this point in my life and the people I'm meeting now!! I love you all!
Happy Thanksgiving!!
Hermana Makeesa Montgomery
I hope you all enjoy your turkey and yummy pie!!! But most of all- Family Time and Black Friday shopping!!! I'm a little jealous!!!
This week has been a tough but blessed one for me!
This area is really different and there are challenges but hey everything is hard the first week!!!
Here are some of this week's miracles!!! We were able to set 7 appointments for this week with new people!! We also contacted a guy named Cesear. We called and left him a voice mail and about 20 minutes later he called and said we could come right then. We did and we had a good talk with him and he came to church on Sunday! Our investigator Jonathan's car got towed so we walked 1 mile with him to church! :)
Another girl named Kenya came to church too!! And a less active we visited my second day here. She is so awesome!!!
So my first Sunday....I taught the gospel principles lesson and we had a 2 hour branch council meeting. It was a long but good day.
We currently don't have any plans for Thanksgiving but we will see if anyone offers to feed us...if not Ramen it is!!! hahahaha Just kidding....I have food :)
Anyways I hope you all have a great week and really think about what you are grateful for! I'm grateful for all of you and for your love and support! I'm grateful to be a missionary- to represent Jesus Christ! I'm grateful for the people that have gotten to this point in my life and the people I'm meeting now!! I love you all!
Happy Thanksgiving!!
Hermana Makeesa Montgomery
Saturday, November 22, 2014
TRANSFERS!
Transfer calls came! I'm going to El Camino YSA with Sister Parks!!!
I'm very excited for this coming transfer. I'm sad to leave this area because things were just looking up but I guess that's the way it goes. I have really come to love the people here. The familes are wonderful and everyone is so sweet and caring. The transfer news had people in tears- I guess that's how you know you have done your job and made a difference.
Here's an update on my week:
We have had some changes in our ward missionary efforts, with the help of Bishop West and our new division of ward missionary leadership. Great things are happening!!! It is truly amazing! Yesterday a member referred an entire family!!! All springboarded by our bishop's pass-a-long card challenge. It is so awesome!!! The new elders are so lucky! The ward is finally jumping on the missionary wagon! We also had members sign up to go out with us and the response was great. The members really have become excited about hastening the work!
Sorry I'm out of time! I'll send more next week!
Love, Hermana Makeesa Montgomery
I'm very excited for this coming transfer. I'm sad to leave this area because things were just looking up but I guess that's the way it goes. I have really come to love the people here. The familes are wonderful and everyone is so sweet and caring. The transfer news had people in tears- I guess that's how you know you have done your job and made a difference.
Here's an update on my week:
We have had some changes in our ward missionary efforts, with the help of Bishop West and our new division of ward missionary leadership. Great things are happening!!! It is truly amazing! Yesterday a member referred an entire family!!! All springboarded by our bishop's pass-a-long card challenge. It is so awesome!!! The new elders are so lucky! The ward is finally jumping on the missionary wagon! We also had members sign up to go out with us and the response was great. The members really have become excited about hastening the work!
Sorry I'm out of time! I'll send more next week!
Love, Hermana Makeesa Montgomery
11/13/14 Highlights
Hello everyone!!! Sorry to keep you all waiting!! I'm alive and well :)
So much has happened since the last email so it's kind of all a blur. But some highlights:
1-We went to the temple and I met a really awesome guy there! He was the shining example of diligence! As I watched him walk in my eyes were glued on him. I could tell that something had happened and that it had probably been a long time since he had been in the temple. As he struggled to walk and perform the tasks he had tears in his eyes but so much peace in his expression. I finally asked him about his story...He had had a stroke or something a few years back and he cried and said how grateful he was to be in the temple that it had been so long since he had been there. I couldn't help but cry! I have never seen someone so glad to be there. The temple really is the house of God and we can feel his love there more than any other place on Earth!
2- We had exchanges again and I got to go with Sister Nagano again! We met some awesome people on the street!! It is so amazing to hear people's stories!! We had dinner with a family and we had sweet potato and cauliflower soup. It was delicious!
3- We did a huge service project this week for a family! It was lots of hard work but it was worth it! It was so nice to see them happy and all together. I'm grateful my parents taught me hard work ethic! It really paid off!
Sorry I don't have much time but I'll be back in a few days! I love you all so much! Thanks for everything!
Love, Hermana Makeesa Montgomery
So much has happened since the last email so it's kind of all a blur. But some highlights:
1-We went to the temple and I met a really awesome guy there! He was the shining example of diligence! As I watched him walk in my eyes were glued on him. I could tell that something had happened and that it had probably been a long time since he had been in the temple. As he struggled to walk and perform the tasks he had tears in his eyes but so much peace in his expression. I finally asked him about his story...He had had a stroke or something a few years back and he cried and said how grateful he was to be in the temple that it had been so long since he had been there. I couldn't help but cry! I have never seen someone so glad to be there. The temple really is the house of God and we can feel his love there more than any other place on Earth!
2- We had exchanges again and I got to go with Sister Nagano again! We met some awesome people on the street!! It is so amazing to hear people's stories!! We had dinner with a family and we had sweet potato and cauliflower soup. It was delicious!
3- We did a huge service project this week for a family! It was lots of hard work but it was worth it! It was so nice to see them happy and all together. I'm grateful my parents taught me hard work ethic! It really paid off!
Sorry I don't have much time but I'll be back in a few days! I love you all so much! Thanks for everything!
Love, Hermana Makeesa Montgomery
SPOOKTACULAR WEEK!! :)
Hello everyone!!! I hope you all had a fun Halloween!!!!
This week has been great! Lots of good stuff going on!
First of all Halloween! The day was just normal....but we did get to have dinner with the Strawns. We had pumpkin soup that was absolutely delicious! We also had spud nuts (home-made donuts). It was so yummy! We were going to take a pumpkin home to carve but we were running late and forgot to grab it....not the most exciting Halloween I've ever had but it was still fun because everyone here decorates!! Here are some pictures of some of the decorations---SO COOL!
This week we had zone conference!! It was amazing! I felt the Spirit so strong! We had training on teaching simply, sincere prayers, faith-filled thoughts, and following the Spirit. I have been trying really hard to implement the faith-filled thoughts training. In today's world it is so easy to be negative and get down on ourselves. But as I have been trying to work on this this week, it is incredible the difference that positive thinking can make. It is sometimes hard to do but as we keep working on it, it becomes easier. Have people around you help you re-write your negative thoughts. It is kinda goofy at first but it really works and helps keep things in perspective. I also have been working on my prayers. I'm glad to say they have improved! And I am really happy about that. I feel like I really mean what I say and I'm taking more time to really be grateful and honest with Heavenly Father. In our training we talked a lot about being open and homiest in our prayers, not just saying the thing we think he wants hear. I invite you all to try it out and see what happens!
Yesterday we had a lesson on gratitude in Relief Society. It really struck me. I realized that I needed to be more grateful for the blessings I've been given instead of complaining or worry about what I don't have. It was very eye-opening for me. The Spirit told me to use the question, "What are you grateful for?" As a street contact approach. So I'll give it a try this week. Yesterday it worked once and didn't once. We have been extending the challenge to our ward member to make a list A-Z of things they are grateful for! If you start today and put one or two things down you will have a list almost complete by Thanksgiving :) Then everyone can read their list after dinner!
We also had exchanges this week! I was with Sister Nagano. I learned so much from her and I feel like we really connected and understood each other. She helped me see a lot of things I can do better. We met a new family that we are going back to this week! We are excited! We also had a good lesson with one of the guys we are working with.
There was a quote in Zone Conference about the Savior being keenly aware of each missionary. But this week I came to understand more fully that he is keenly aware of everyone!! This really hit me when we knocked on the door of Amber Delileo. We had a list of names that we wanted to visit. I had a feeling we needed to go towards to the beach. We prayed and picked a name and off we went. We arrived but could not find a place to park. We drove around in circles and then we thought maybe it was the wrong person. We prayed again that if it was her we could get parking. Well we found one. We walked into he building and up to the door. We knocked and a woman with a face full of tears opened to the door. She told us that her husband had just died about an hour ago. She let us in and we talked for a while. She was in shock and had no idea what to do. We were able to comfort her and give her advice. I know without a shadow of a doubt that Heavenly Father knew her and her situation and we were led to her door. After we left her house we stopped to offer a prayer. I can't describe the Spirit I felt as I came to understand why I had to endure all of the heartache of losing so many people that I was close to while I was so young. But as I've been here on my mission, I have come to understand that the things I have gone through in my life have prepared me to help people here. I have been part of 3 deaths so far and I have been able to understand and comfort those people. I know the Lord has a plan for everything I know that he is keenly aware of each of you and your needs. Talk to him! He wants to help you!
I love you all so much!! Thank you so much for all your prayers! I feel them! Thank you for being a part of my life! I can't wait to see you all again!
Love, Hermana Makeesa Montgomery
This week has been great! Lots of good stuff going on!
First of all Halloween! The day was just normal....but we did get to have dinner with the Strawns. We had pumpkin soup that was absolutely delicious! We also had spud nuts (home-made donuts). It was so yummy! We were going to take a pumpkin home to carve but we were running late and forgot to grab it....not the most exciting Halloween I've ever had but it was still fun because everyone here decorates!! Here are some pictures of some of the decorations---SO COOL!
This week we had zone conference!! It was amazing! I felt the Spirit so strong! We had training on teaching simply, sincere prayers, faith-filled thoughts, and following the Spirit. I have been trying really hard to implement the faith-filled thoughts training. In today's world it is so easy to be negative and get down on ourselves. But as I have been trying to work on this this week, it is incredible the difference that positive thinking can make. It is sometimes hard to do but as we keep working on it, it becomes easier. Have people around you help you re-write your negative thoughts. It is kinda goofy at first but it really works and helps keep things in perspective. I also have been working on my prayers. I'm glad to say they have improved! And I am really happy about that. I feel like I really mean what I say and I'm taking more time to really be grateful and honest with Heavenly Father. In our training we talked a lot about being open and homiest in our prayers, not just saying the thing we think he wants hear. I invite you all to try it out and see what happens!
Yesterday we had a lesson on gratitude in Relief Society. It really struck me. I realized that I needed to be more grateful for the blessings I've been given instead of complaining or worry about what I don't have. It was very eye-opening for me. The Spirit told me to use the question, "What are you grateful for?" As a street contact approach. So I'll give it a try this week. Yesterday it worked once and didn't once. We have been extending the challenge to our ward member to make a list A-Z of things they are grateful for! If you start today and put one or two things down you will have a list almost complete by Thanksgiving :) Then everyone can read their list after dinner!
We also had exchanges this week! I was with Sister Nagano. I learned so much from her and I feel like we really connected and understood each other. She helped me see a lot of things I can do better. We met a new family that we are going back to this week! We are excited! We also had a good lesson with one of the guys we are working with.
There was a quote in Zone Conference about the Savior being keenly aware of each missionary. But this week I came to understand more fully that he is keenly aware of everyone!! This really hit me when we knocked on the door of Amber Delileo. We had a list of names that we wanted to visit. I had a feeling we needed to go towards to the beach. We prayed and picked a name and off we went. We arrived but could not find a place to park. We drove around in circles and then we thought maybe it was the wrong person. We prayed again that if it was her we could get parking. Well we found one. We walked into he building and up to the door. We knocked and a woman with a face full of tears opened to the door. She told us that her husband had just died about an hour ago. She let us in and we talked for a while. She was in shock and had no idea what to do. We were able to comfort her and give her advice. I know without a shadow of a doubt that Heavenly Father knew her and her situation and we were led to her door. After we left her house we stopped to offer a prayer. I can't describe the Spirit I felt as I came to understand why I had to endure all of the heartache of losing so many people that I was close to while I was so young. But as I've been here on my mission, I have come to understand that the things I have gone through in my life have prepared me to help people here. I have been part of 3 deaths so far and I have been able to understand and comfort those people. I know the Lord has a plan for everything I know that he is keenly aware of each of you and your needs. Talk to him! He wants to help you!
I love you all so much!! Thank you so much for all your prayers! I feel them! Thank you for being a part of my life! I can't wait to see you all again!
Love, Hermana Makeesa Montgomery
Monday, October 27, 2014
10 MONTH MARK!!
Hello everyone!! How is fall treating everyone? I hope you all are enjoying it because it is still so hot here!!
This week has been a long one. We have had our share of ups and downs as always.
We've had some good lessons and have made progress with our ward members so that is really good. This whole week we have been on the lookout for service opportunity and so far we haven't gotten anything. But just yesterday we went to visit a lady from the ward and she had a whole list of things she needed help with! We were so excited! Heavenly Father answers prayers!
We had another miracle this week. We stopped by our referral's house again to see if we could catch him home. his dad was there and since he has seen us a few times was pleasant and conversational. He introduced us to his granddaughter Sierra and after we invited them to the trunk or treat they were really excited and they invited us in. We were able to talk about primary and get to know them. I got to hold her bearded dragon, Crook! It was so cool! We were able to say a prayer with them. It was so amazing to see how not giving up on people and always being friendly really does have an affect on people.
We got to meet a lot of less actives this week. We didn't have lessons with them all but we had good doorstep conversations. I feel like we have made a step in the right direction with a few more less active and part member families. People have the most interesting life stories! If you just take a few minutes to sit down and talk to people you learn so much!
We met some interesting people on the street this week so hopefully we will be getting some new investigators this coming week. One of them is Hilary. She is a dancer and we had an interesting discussion on prayer! We are going back to see her this Friday. We also met Russ who has done just about every crazy thing you can think of to do! He is now in a wheelchair after he was hit by a car on his bike. His life is a miracle!! He was really cool and talked our ears off. People here have done some awesome things!!
This week we also had a mini-missionary, Sister Chantawansri!!! She was amazing!! We picked her up Friday night and she was with us until Sunday night. We met some nice people knocking doors and the one we talked to gave us 2 referrals. This lady's name was Lalie, she is from Spain! She was so cute! She keep talking about how she felt like she had seen me before. She told us we could come back and that we could so service for her. Of course we met some that weren't so friendly as well. We had a great lesson with one of our less actives and an amazing lesson with our investigator Maryanne. Our mini-missionary did fantastic and the lesson went great!! The best one we have had so far! The Spirit was so strong! Our mini-missionary invited her to be baptized, Maryanne said no, but that she would think, read, and pray about it.
We then the annual Trunk-or-treat and lots of non-members and less actives came. It was fun! There were lots of costumes and games and food. The ward members have sort of a competition to see whose car is the best. There were some pretty good ones! It was a fun night!
It was awesome to have a mini-missionary! Miracles happen when they are with us!
Matthew got baptized this week!
Well I hope you all have a great week and enjoy Halloween!! Next week I'll send some pictures of the awesome decorations they have here!!
I love you all! Thanks for everything!!
Love, Hermana Montgomery
This week has been a long one. We have had our share of ups and downs as always.
We've had some good lessons and have made progress with our ward members so that is really good. This whole week we have been on the lookout for service opportunity and so far we haven't gotten anything. But just yesterday we went to visit a lady from the ward and she had a whole list of things she needed help with! We were so excited! Heavenly Father answers prayers!
We had another miracle this week. We stopped by our referral's house again to see if we could catch him home. his dad was there and since he has seen us a few times was pleasant and conversational. He introduced us to his granddaughter Sierra and after we invited them to the trunk or treat they were really excited and they invited us in. We were able to talk about primary and get to know them. I got to hold her bearded dragon, Crook! It was so cool! We were able to say a prayer with them. It was so amazing to see how not giving up on people and always being friendly really does have an affect on people.
We got to meet a lot of less actives this week. We didn't have lessons with them all but we had good doorstep conversations. I feel like we have made a step in the right direction with a few more less active and part member families. People have the most interesting life stories! If you just take a few minutes to sit down and talk to people you learn so much!
We met some interesting people on the street this week so hopefully we will be getting some new investigators this coming week. One of them is Hilary. She is a dancer and we had an interesting discussion on prayer! We are going back to see her this Friday. We also met Russ who has done just about every crazy thing you can think of to do! He is now in a wheelchair after he was hit by a car on his bike. His life is a miracle!! He was really cool and talked our ears off. People here have done some awesome things!!
This week we also had a mini-missionary, Sister Chantawansri!!! She was amazing!! We picked her up Friday night and she was with us until Sunday night. We met some nice people knocking doors and the one we talked to gave us 2 referrals. This lady's name was Lalie, she is from Spain! She was so cute! She keep talking about how she felt like she had seen me before. She told us we could come back and that we could so service for her. Of course we met some that weren't so friendly as well. We had a great lesson with one of our less actives and an amazing lesson with our investigator Maryanne. Our mini-missionary did fantastic and the lesson went great!! The best one we have had so far! The Spirit was so strong! Our mini-missionary invited her to be baptized, Maryanne said no, but that she would think, read, and pray about it.
We then the annual Trunk-or-treat and lots of non-members and less actives came. It was fun! There were lots of costumes and games and food. The ward members have sort of a competition to see whose car is the best. There were some pretty good ones! It was a fun night!
It was awesome to have a mini-missionary! Miracles happen when they are with us!
Matthew got baptized this week!
Funny story of the week:
So we stopped by to visit some less actives. Their 16 year old son answered. Long story short I made a fool of myself and said lots of embarrassing things. And after we got back in the car my companion and our mini-missionary laughed for a good 10 minutes. Then the next day at church we saw him and it was super awkward and I just smiled and kept my mouth shut......
Dinner quote of the week:
80 year old grandma--"Kissing a guy with a beard is like kissing a cactus, I speak from experience" hahaha It was hilarious and we all laughed for a good 5 minutes!!
Well I hope you all have a great week and enjoy Halloween!! Next week I'll send some pictures of the awesome decorations they have here!!
I love you all! Thanks for everything!!
Love, Hermana Montgomery
Sunday, October 26, 2014
Highlights!
Hello everyone!!
Sorry I didn't write last week! So I'm in Redondo Beach another transfer with the same companion!
This week has been a trying one but every cloud has a silver lining! So I'll focus more on that part :)
1- Matthew got baptized!! It was awesome! He is my hero! I love that kid. I learned more from him than he probably did from me! Brilliance comes out of his mouth! He has an amazing spirit and he is going to do great things!!
2- We had a relief society cookie exchange. There was lots of yummy treats and our investigator and her daughter went and loved it!
3- We have a group of old ladies in our ward that love us!! They are so cute and are always telling us what a good job we are doing. I love them!!
4- Sister Spencer gave us aprons :)
5- We have a new bishop who is helping us so much!!
6- Today we had two occasions where we were around people with special needs. I love them so much! I have come to understand how much God loves them and all of us! I also learned how much love parents have for their kids!
7- We met a lady on the street named Stephanie. We talked with her for a while and she told us lots of stuff about Eboli and then we talked about the red moon. And then she told us about her favorite line from Titanic "It's built so well, even God can't sink it" Then she went off about how we should never underestimate God and his power. I like that! It is so true! If God wants something to happen it will!!
8- We had stake conference! It was amazing!!! The focus was missionary work, family history, temples, and having our own conversion through trials. It was so good.
One of my favorite talks: He talked about how at sports games people wear their team jersey with their favorite players name on the back. He talked about how we look up to and admire that person and try to be like them. Then he said "What if we wore jerseys to church? Whose name would you put on the back? Daniel, Peter, Ammon, Nephi, Smith, Hinckely, Uchtdorf, Bednar, Holland, Monson, etc... " Then he went on to say that we do have jerseys. We got them when we were baptized. We became part of God's team. Then he said, The name on the back is Christ. We took upon ourselves his name. We promised to represent his team. He posed the question "Do people know what team you are on without having to wear a literal jersey? Can people tell who you represent? Can they tell by your language, the way you treat your spouse, the entertainment you participate in, the clothes you wear?" It was a really good, thought-provoking talk.
The other talk I liked was about 4 trees in our church building, They are all in the same location, same watering system, and yet one is dying and the other ones are in different stages. He talked about how we need to nourish our testimonies so they don't wither away when the heat of temptations comes.
There were lots more I will share next week. Time is up for today!
I love you all and hope you have a great week!!
Hermana Montgomery
Sorry I didn't write last week! So I'm in Redondo Beach another transfer with the same companion!
This week has been a trying one but every cloud has a silver lining! So I'll focus more on that part :)
1- Matthew got baptized!! It was awesome! He is my hero! I love that kid. I learned more from him than he probably did from me! Brilliance comes out of his mouth! He has an amazing spirit and he is going to do great things!!
2- We had a relief society cookie exchange. There was lots of yummy treats and our investigator and her daughter went and loved it!
3- We have a group of old ladies in our ward that love us!! They are so cute and are always telling us what a good job we are doing. I love them!!
4- Sister Spencer gave us aprons :)
5- We have a new bishop who is helping us so much!!
6- Today we had two occasions where we were around people with special needs. I love them so much! I have come to understand how much God loves them and all of us! I also learned how much love parents have for their kids!
7- We met a lady on the street named Stephanie. We talked with her for a while and she told us lots of stuff about Eboli and then we talked about the red moon. And then she told us about her favorite line from Titanic "It's built so well, even God can't sink it" Then she went off about how we should never underestimate God and his power. I like that! It is so true! If God wants something to happen it will!!
8- We had stake conference! It was amazing!!! The focus was missionary work, family history, temples, and having our own conversion through trials. It was so good.
One of my favorite talks: He talked about how at sports games people wear their team jersey with their favorite players name on the back. He talked about how we look up to and admire that person and try to be like them. Then he said "What if we wore jerseys to church? Whose name would you put on the back? Daniel, Peter, Ammon, Nephi, Smith, Hinckely, Uchtdorf, Bednar, Holland, Monson, etc... " Then he went on to say that we do have jerseys. We got them when we were baptized. We became part of God's team. Then he said, The name on the back is Christ. We took upon ourselves his name. We promised to represent his team. He posed the question "Do people know what team you are on without having to wear a literal jersey? Can people tell who you represent? Can they tell by your language, the way you treat your spouse, the entertainment you participate in, the clothes you wear?" It was a really good, thought-provoking talk.
The other talk I liked was about 4 trees in our church building, They are all in the same location, same watering system, and yet one is dying and the other ones are in different stages. He talked about how we need to nourish our testimonies so they don't wither away when the heat of temptations comes.
There were lots more I will share next week. Time is up for today!
I love you all and hope you have a great week!!
Hermana Montgomery
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
Flu Season!!!
This week has been a blur. The funniest moment of the week was when my companion got asked out on a date by a 44 yr. old. It was pretty hilarious. I also got a flu shot last Monday. But I survived.
Cool experience: So when I went to bed on Friday night I wasn't feeling very well but I figured it would just go away by morning. WRONG!!! I woke up at about 11:30 sicker than a dog. I had a fever, dry heaving, and really bad stomach pains. I felt like I was going to die. We called the zone leaders and they did answer. So we called the district leaders and they answered but couldn't come because they are on bikes. But finally the zone leaders answered and came over to give me a blessing. By this point it was like 12:45. I had been gagging and crying. I was wearing a huge shirt, glasses, and my hair up...not the hottest moment of my life...haha. They gave me a blessing but it was embarrassing because I had to run to the bathroom while they were there. But by morning I felt much better but it took most of Saturday to feel back to normal. President Weidman called to check on me and all my leaders called to see if I was ok. But I survived!!! Blessings really work!!!!
Sorry, I don't have a lot of time to write about much else. I am staying in my area, Redondo, for another transfer with my same companion!
After my flu shot--
The Hansen Family-- :)
A sweet lady from our ward, Sister DiAngelo,
Weird thing about my area...is that there are snails...EVERYWHERE!
I want letters so if you can, take some time and send me one. I would LOVE it!! :)
Love,
Hermana Montgomery
Cool experience: So when I went to bed on Friday night I wasn't feeling very well but I figured it would just go away by morning. WRONG!!! I woke up at about 11:30 sicker than a dog. I had a fever, dry heaving, and really bad stomach pains. I felt like I was going to die. We called the zone leaders and they did answer. So we called the district leaders and they answered but couldn't come because they are on bikes. But finally the zone leaders answered and came over to give me a blessing. By this point it was like 12:45. I had been gagging and crying. I was wearing a huge shirt, glasses, and my hair up...not the hottest moment of my life...haha. They gave me a blessing but it was embarrassing because I had to run to the bathroom while they were there. But by morning I felt much better but it took most of Saturday to feel back to normal. President Weidman called to check on me and all my leaders called to see if I was ok. But I survived!!! Blessings really work!!!!
Sorry, I don't have a lot of time to write about much else. I am staying in my area, Redondo, for another transfer with my same companion!
After my flu shot--
The Hansen Family-- :)
A sweet lady from our ward, Sister DiAngelo,
Weird thing about my area...is that there are snails...EVERYWHERE!
I want letters so if you can, take some time and send me one. I would LOVE it!! :)
Love,
Hermana Montgomery
Saturday, October 11, 2014
October 5, 14-Conference!!
Hello Everyone!!!
Conference was amazing wasn't it?!?! I loved it!!!
I thought it was interesting how the talks seemed to have more of a focus on our personal spirituality. We were taught well about revelation and order in the Church. The ordinance of the Sacrament. The crucial need of the Atonement. And also not to be ashamed of what we believe.
So I planned on sharing all the things I liked but that would take me forever. So I think I will just skip to some thoughts I had:
At some of our training President Weidman has talked about increasing faith. He asked "How do we measure or gauge if faith has increased?" He answered "Increase of faith is measured by changes in our behavior. Faith leads us to act. If nothing changes as a result of a training, that training has failed no matter how strongly the Spirit was felt."
As we have been reading in the Book of Mormon. I came across something that had never noticed. It is talking about Alma and how because of his calling as High Priest the Spirit was able to testify to him the understanding of the people. That way,as he taught he would be able to know if they were understanding what was being taught. I think that President Monson has that same ability. The fact that he stated that "Hearts were touched and faith was increased" suggests that he felt that the church members had accepted the messages and had made plans to change. It is through our changes that we show Heavenly Father that we have accepted the invitation to change and become better. I encourage all of you to think about conference and choose how you are going to change. Don't make all those hours a waste. Do something about it! The scriptures talk a alot about hearing and hearkening. As I have come to understand the difference between these words I realize the importance of acting. Lots of people hear the word but only those who truly believe and desire to follow hearken. Hearkening requires action. It requires changing our actions to be better. Last night we met with some ward members and he said something really cool. He said "After doing those changes for a while, they become our behaviors, and after they are our behaviors for long enough, they become our character". I thought that was pretty wise.
As I thought about this this morning I found some quotes:
Anyways just some food for thought there :)
These are some boys from our area and their bearded dragons!! One of them jumped on my shirt and I freaked out! It was so funny! haha
The sunsets here are so pretty! I love it!
I love you all so much!! Thank you for everything. Your love, support, and prayers.
Love,
Hermana Montgomery
Conference was amazing wasn't it?!?! I loved it!!!
I thought it was interesting how the talks seemed to have more of a focus on our personal spirituality. We were taught well about revelation and order in the Church. The ordinance of the Sacrament. The crucial need of the Atonement. And also not to be ashamed of what we believe.
So I planned on sharing all the things I liked but that would take me forever. So I think I will just skip to some thoughts I had:
- At the beginning of Conference President Monson prayed that as we listened and paid attention to the messages that "hearts will be touched and faith will increase"
At some of our training President Weidman has talked about increasing faith. He asked "How do we measure or gauge if faith has increased?" He answered "Increase of faith is measured by changes in our behavior. Faith leads us to act. If nothing changes as a result of a training, that training has failed no matter how strongly the Spirit was felt."
- At the end of Conference President Monson again stated "Hearts have been touched and faith has increased".
As we have been reading in the Book of Mormon. I came across something that had never noticed. It is talking about Alma and how because of his calling as High Priest the Spirit was able to testify to him the understanding of the people. That way,as he taught he would be able to know if they were understanding what was being taught. I think that President Monson has that same ability. The fact that he stated that "Hearts were touched and faith was increased" suggests that he felt that the church members had accepted the messages and had made plans to change. It is through our changes that we show Heavenly Father that we have accepted the invitation to change and become better. I encourage all of you to think about conference and choose how you are going to change. Don't make all those hours a waste. Do something about it! The scriptures talk a alot about hearing and hearkening. As I have come to understand the difference between these words I realize the importance of acting. Lots of people hear the word but only those who truly believe and desire to follow hearken. Hearkening requires action. It requires changing our actions to be better. Last night we met with some ward members and he said something really cool. He said "After doing those changes for a while, they become our behaviors, and after they are our behaviors for long enough, they become our character". I thought that was pretty wise.
As I thought about this this morning I found some quotes:
- "To repent is to turn, to change, to re-evaluate, and to recommit. Each time the Lord or his prophets command repentance , they are saying 'You have now been given another chance-another opportunity to change.' " --John Bytheway
- "Repentance is a divine gift, and there should be a smile on our faces when we speak of it. It points us to freedom, confidence, and peace....the gift of repentance is the cause of true celebration." --Elder D. Todd Christofferson
- "There is danger in the word someday when what it means is 'not this day.''Some day I will repent.' 'Someday I will forgive him' 'Someday I will speak to my friend about the church' 'Someday I will start to pay tithing' 'Someday I will return to the temple' We will weep, and God will weep, if we have intended to repent and serve Him on tomorrows which never came or have dreamt of yesterdays where the opportunity to act was past. This day is a precious gift to God." --President Henry B. Eyring
- "Choose ye this day whom ye will serve" --Joshua
Anyways just some food for thought there :)
These are some boys from our area and their bearded dragons!! One of them jumped on my shirt and I freaked out! It was so funny! haha
I love you all so much!! Thank you for everything. Your love, support, and prayers.
Love,
Hermana Montgomery
Sept 29, 14--Taylor got baptized!!
TAYLOR GOT BAPTIZED!!!!
This week has been amazing and stressful!!!
Let me give you a bird's eye view of the week...It is Tuesday morning. We get a call from our zone leaders saying Sisters. President wants you to have a baptism and possibly two this weekend. Can you do it? We talked for a while on the phone. We decided it was worth a try. Two baptisms, lots of logistics to work out, and lots of things to teach. But we decided to do our best. President read D&C 123:17 to us. He promised us that if we would do everything we could, we would see the arm of the Lord revealed.
Our game plan was Matthew and Taylor. We would have to see them everyday and clear them and have them accept to be baptized. STRESS!!! At the beginningaylor was closer, then Matthew took over, then instead of Sunday it was Saturday. And then it was off for both. After some tears and an inspiring phone call from President and a morning crazy packed of searching the scriptures and tear-filled role plays we had it figured out. The lesson Friday night went great and Taylor was back on board. Saturday morning was the interview and Sunday was the baptism. Talk about cutting it close!! But it was amazing that we were able to see the fulfillment of the Lord and President Weidman's promise!!! He is an inspired man! As we put our faith in Heavenly Father and did all that we could, His arm was revealed and Taylor was baptized!! It was so amazing to be part of that! This week truly was a battle of fear and faith! There were definately moments of both but ultimatley faith prevailed. It was so amazing that everytime it seemed too hard or another problem came up, Heavenly Father was able to answer our prayers and give us the inspiration and motivation we needed! Being in the Lord's service is an incredible blessing. I am grateful that the Lord trusts me enough to allow me to assist in His work.
So worth it!! Taylor kept saying "Thank you so much this means the world to me, You are amazing!!"
This week has strengthened my testimony! Every single day it grew stronger and stronger. Miracles were happening right before our eyes. Especially with Matthew! I have never taught someone more willing to learn! And then to apply it!! During one of the lessons his friend was yelling his name out the back door. He ran outside and we heard him be the perfect missionary. It went something like this:
"I'm with the sisters right now. I'll be over in a little bit. Yeah Becuase I'm a Mormon and I'm getting baptized!!! You can come to my church if you want. I really have to go the sisters are waiting!!" "Sisters?" (Says the neighbor boy) "Yeah they are missionaries! They teach the word of God! And after you are baptized they call you brother or sister! So they will call me Brother Smith! And I'm going to be a missionary one day and share the word of God! Ok I'll be over in a minute, we are almost finished!" Sister Wehrhahn and I sat at the table in awe of what we were hearing outside. Matthew ran in and said "Sorry that took so long, he just had no idea about half the things I said to him" We congratulated him on being a missionary and told him he had done a great job! We gave him a passalong card with our info on it and invited him to take it over. He said he would. As we left we saw Matthew running over, card in hand!! It was so amazing!!!
Another experience happened last night. We were walking home and we came across a little boy and his grandmother. She didn't speak any English. The light turned green so we quickly gave the little boy a picture of Christ. He grabbed it and smiled and we watched as he walked across the street starting at the card. For the next block or so we were able to see them across the street. The little boy stared at the card the whole time. At one point he kissed it. It was so incredible to me that he recognized Christ. I could feel of the love that Christ had for that little boy and the relationship that they had before he came here and the many things he could achieve here on the earth. It was a touching experience for me.
This weekend was also full of conferences. Saturday we had a special zone conference to watch a sneak peak of the new movie "Meet the Mormons". It will be coming out Oct. 10 in theaters around the US. It is super good! You should definatley see it. We also watched a talk from Pres. Uchtdorf about overcoming fear. It was SO good!! And then later that night we got to go to the Relief Society broadcast. It was so good!!! Simple and powerful! I'm so excited for general conference!! It is going to be incredible!!
I hope this gave you a peak into my crazy week! The work is great!!
I love you all :) Have a great week!
Love, Hermana Montgomery
This week has been amazing and stressful!!!
Let me give you a bird's eye view of the week...It is Tuesday morning. We get a call from our zone leaders saying Sisters. President wants you to have a baptism and possibly two this weekend. Can you do it? We talked for a while on the phone. We decided it was worth a try. Two baptisms, lots of logistics to work out, and lots of things to teach. But we decided to do our best. President read D&C 123:17 to us. He promised us that if we would do everything we could, we would see the arm of the Lord revealed.
Our game plan was Matthew and Taylor. We would have to see them everyday and clear them and have them accept to be baptized. STRESS!!! At the beginningaylor was closer, then Matthew took over, then instead of Sunday it was Saturday. And then it was off for both. After some tears and an inspiring phone call from President and a morning crazy packed of searching the scriptures and tear-filled role plays we had it figured out. The lesson Friday night went great and Taylor was back on board. Saturday morning was the interview and Sunday was the baptism. Talk about cutting it close!! But it was amazing that we were able to see the fulfillment of the Lord and President Weidman's promise!!! He is an inspired man! As we put our faith in Heavenly Father and did all that we could, His arm was revealed and Taylor was baptized!! It was so amazing to be part of that! This week truly was a battle of fear and faith! There were definately moments of both but ultimatley faith prevailed. It was so amazing that everytime it seemed too hard or another problem came up, Heavenly Father was able to answer our prayers and give us the inspiration and motivation we needed! Being in the Lord's service is an incredible blessing. I am grateful that the Lord trusts me enough to allow me to assist in His work.
So worth it!! Taylor kept saying "Thank you so much this means the world to me, You are amazing!!"
This week has strengthened my testimony! Every single day it grew stronger and stronger. Miracles were happening right before our eyes. Especially with Matthew! I have never taught someone more willing to learn! And then to apply it!! During one of the lessons his friend was yelling his name out the back door. He ran outside and we heard him be the perfect missionary. It went something like this:
"I'm with the sisters right now. I'll be over in a little bit. Yeah Becuase I'm a Mormon and I'm getting baptized!!! You can come to my church if you want. I really have to go the sisters are waiting!!" "Sisters?" (Says the neighbor boy) "Yeah they are missionaries! They teach the word of God! And after you are baptized they call you brother or sister! So they will call me Brother Smith! And I'm going to be a missionary one day and share the word of God! Ok I'll be over in a minute, we are almost finished!" Sister Wehrhahn and I sat at the table in awe of what we were hearing outside. Matthew ran in and said "Sorry that took so long, he just had no idea about half the things I said to him" We congratulated him on being a missionary and told him he had done a great job! We gave him a passalong card with our info on it and invited him to take it over. He said he would. As we left we saw Matthew running over, card in hand!! It was so amazing!!!
Another experience happened last night. We were walking home and we came across a little boy and his grandmother. She didn't speak any English. The light turned green so we quickly gave the little boy a picture of Christ. He grabbed it and smiled and we watched as he walked across the street starting at the card. For the next block or so we were able to see them across the street. The little boy stared at the card the whole time. At one point he kissed it. It was so incredible to me that he recognized Christ. I could feel of the love that Christ had for that little boy and the relationship that they had before he came here and the many things he could achieve here on the earth. It was a touching experience for me.
This weekend was also full of conferences. Saturday we had a special zone conference to watch a sneak peak of the new movie "Meet the Mormons". It will be coming out Oct. 10 in theaters around the US. It is super good! You should definatley see it. We also watched a talk from Pres. Uchtdorf about overcoming fear. It was SO good!! And then later that night we got to go to the Relief Society broadcast. It was so good!!! Simple and powerful! I'm so excited for general conference!! It is going to be incredible!!
I hope this gave you a peak into my crazy week! The work is great!!
I love you all :) Have a great week!
Love, Hermana Montgomery
Sept 22, 14--HALFWAY THERE!!
Hello Everyone!!!
This week has been a little rough. The flu and cold has hit us! Sister Wehrhahn has been sick almost all week and now it is jumping to me. We have been trying to push through but it has been rough. We did have some miracles this week despite the illness.
The first one is that we were able to bring two different groups to the visitors center. They were very different. One was super good about the temple and family history. The other was more about God's love and the Restoration. We were able to bear powerful testimony in both lessons so it was good. Sister Anand gave one of the tours so it was awesome to see her!!
The Edward Family at the visitor's center--
The second one is that we received a referral. She is a former investigator. She is from Austria. She is in her 50's. Her daughter has cerebral palsy. She watches BYU-TV all the time and she knows church history like crazy. We called and set up an appointment with her. We went and had a good lesson with her and invited her to read the Book of Mormon and come to church. She said she would and we set a return appointment. When we arrived at her house we saw a man sitting outside across the street. We were already late for the appointment so we said we would talk to him afterwards. As we came out of the lesson he was still there. We walked over and began to talk to him. He really opened up to us and told us that he is going through divorce/ child custody battles and is taking care of his mom with cancer. He asked us to come back and we left a Book of Mormon with him. He was such a miracle.
Later that night after dinner we were walking back to the car. We saw a man walking up the road. We asked how he was and if we could share a card with him. He said "Are you Sister Montgomery?" I was a bit taken back and said that Yes, I was. He proceeded to introduce himself and told us that I had talked to him on the phone just a few days earlier. He is a former that I had called. He asked about his experience with missionaries and why he stopped investigating. We invited him to church and he said he would come and check it out so he could at least say he gave it a fair chance. It was a really cool opportunity.
In other news: Our investigator Robert got arrested right in front of us as we drove along the road. We were on exchanges and we passed him on the street. We went to his house and he wasn't home. We waited a while and after nothing we decided to drive to dinner. On the way there we see Robert cuffed and stuffed in front of his high school. We went and talked to his dad and he said he should have been out the next day but as of today, we still haven't heard anything.
So in honor of crossing my half-way mark I thought I would share some things that I have learned:
1) Miracles Happen
2) The gospel is all about change and progression
3) The Atonement is real and it will change you if you let it
4) The blessing it is to serve Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father
5) That you can love wherever you are
6) There are great people everywhere
7) Prayers are answered
8) The Book of Mormon really is Another Testament of Jesus Christ
9) I have changed!!
10) Things have never been better
11) The Spirit is real
12) The temple is the best place to be
13) Family is most important
14) You always need your parents :)
15) We have a living prophet
16) It's not that hard to share your testimony
17) Technology is a blessing
18) I love and miss you all!!!
I just want to say thank you for all the love and support!
Have a great week!!
Love,
Hermana Montgomery
This week has been a little rough. The flu and cold has hit us! Sister Wehrhahn has been sick almost all week and now it is jumping to me. We have been trying to push through but it has been rough. We did have some miracles this week despite the illness.
The first one is that we were able to bring two different groups to the visitors center. They were very different. One was super good about the temple and family history. The other was more about God's love and the Restoration. We were able to bear powerful testimony in both lessons so it was good. Sister Anand gave one of the tours so it was awesome to see her!!
The Edward Family at the visitor's center--
The second one is that we received a referral. She is a former investigator. She is from Austria. She is in her 50's. Her daughter has cerebral palsy. She watches BYU-TV all the time and she knows church history like crazy. We called and set up an appointment with her. We went and had a good lesson with her and invited her to read the Book of Mormon and come to church. She said she would and we set a return appointment. When we arrived at her house we saw a man sitting outside across the street. We were already late for the appointment so we said we would talk to him afterwards. As we came out of the lesson he was still there. We walked over and began to talk to him. He really opened up to us and told us that he is going through divorce/ child custody battles and is taking care of his mom with cancer. He asked us to come back and we left a Book of Mormon with him. He was such a miracle.
Later that night after dinner we were walking back to the car. We saw a man walking up the road. We asked how he was and if we could share a card with him. He said "Are you Sister Montgomery?" I was a bit taken back and said that Yes, I was. He proceeded to introduce himself and told us that I had talked to him on the phone just a few days earlier. He is a former that I had called. He asked about his experience with missionaries and why he stopped investigating. We invited him to church and he said he would come and check it out so he could at least say he gave it a fair chance. It was a really cool opportunity.
In other news: Our investigator Robert got arrested right in front of us as we drove along the road. We were on exchanges and we passed him on the street. We went to his house and he wasn't home. We waited a while and after nothing we decided to drive to dinner. On the way there we see Robert cuffed and stuffed in front of his high school. We went and talked to his dad and he said he should have been out the next day but as of today, we still haven't heard anything.
So in honor of crossing my half-way mark I thought I would share some things that I have learned:
1) Miracles Happen
2) The gospel is all about change and progression
3) The Atonement is real and it will change you if you let it
4) The blessing it is to serve Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father
5) That you can love wherever you are
6) There are great people everywhere
7) Prayers are answered
8) The Book of Mormon really is Another Testament of Jesus Christ
9) I have changed!!
10) Things have never been better
11) The Spirit is real
12) The temple is the best place to be
13) Family is most important
14) You always need your parents :)
15) We have a living prophet
16) It's not that hard to share your testimony
17) Technology is a blessing
18) I love and miss you all!!!
I just want to say thank you for all the love and support!
Have a great week!!
Love,
Hermana Montgomery
Sunday, September 21, 2014
Anxiously engaged in a good cause!
Hello Everyone!!
This week has been a bit of a roller-coaster. The Edward family was baptized last week and every time we tried to come over or see them they were busy. We were finally able to meet with the mom and it went really well. Saturday night came and we still hadn't heard from them. So we decided to stop by. We went and talked to the girls and they were doing good. Sunday morning came and it was a bit of a hassle to get everything straightened out but we got it all set up. Sacrament started and they still hadn't come.....needless to say we were freaking out a little bit. But soon they came in. They were confirmed and it was amazing! They were so welcomed by the ward- it was great!
The next part of the roller-coaster was that all of our investigators couldn't meet with us. We were a little desperate for lessons and people to teach so we did the only thing I could think of. Hit the streets! We ended up finding 4 really great people that we are going back to see this week. I gained a stronger testimony of following the Spirit. And after the training on using the Book of Mormon in all the street contacts, we put it into action and it is truly powerful. We are still struggling trying to adjust but we are seeing miracles.
Sunday was the Restoration Musical that I auditioned for a while back. We had invited 5 or 6 people to the Restoration Musical and all of them cancelled at the last minute. I was so devastated. I really wanted to bring people and see the production that I almost got to be part of. I had been looking forward to it for so long. We scrambled and scrambled but nothing worked out. I shed a few tears and accepted the fact the Heavenly Father had a better plan. We had a lesson planned for that night but we still were unsure about what we should teach. I was super stressed and had the worst headache ever. I laid down on the floor and about 5 minutes later woke up and had a strong feeling we needed to teach Gospel of Jesus Christ. I asked Sister Wehrhahn and she said she has been dreaming a lot about faith. So we decided we were going to invite Taylor to be baptized. He has been invited before and before he could answer the member jumped in and said no. And another member told us my first week to not even think about asking him to be baptized. But we had met another time since then and we just felt so strongly that it was the right time. So we text the girlfriend and told her how we felt. She agreed that it was a good time. We invited her to extend the invitation and she said she would. So off to the lesson we go....we arrive and they have the biggest smiles. We followed up some things and asked if he any questions about the lesson in Sunday school. He had a great question that lead perfectly into the lesson. The Spirit was so strong!! We got to the step of baptism and the tension was building...we explained baptism and had him read a scripture but it didn't feel quite right. So we went around and each talked about our baptisms. We had a few really good pauses in which we were hoping the girlfriend would extend the invitation. But she didn't....so as I sat there in the silence I knew I would just have to do it. I got a lump in my throat and then just blurted out "We want to invite you to be baptized!" He got a HUGE smile on his face and joyful exclaimed "I AGREE! Throwing his arm in the air" It was one of the greatest feelings I have had in a while. We told him the date and looked at his phone and said it was perfect! The Spirit was so strong you could have cut it with a butter knife! Afterward he asked what he needed to know about that day so we told him a little about it and he was so excited. He offered the closing prayer and it was beautiful. As we left I just couldn't stop smiling! I could hardly fall asleep last night because I was so excited!
The other thing I gained a testimony of this week was being anxiously engaged in a good cause. We did a lot of walking and knocking doors this week. But what surprised me the most was the response from the members. We were walking and a car was pulled over to the side of the road. As we went by it turned out to be some of the ward missionaries. They said they had seen us walking down the road and so they decided to stop and see if we needed a ride somewhere. We told them no and that we had just met a really great lady up the street. And then at ward council on Sunday one of the counselors asked "Sisters, we you tracting on Carson yesterday or did you have appointments?" We told him that we were just walking, talking, and knocking and he said "My wife and I drove past and saw you across the street. We were going to honk but by the time we realized it was you it was too late." We were able to tell him that we actually had met a really nice guy and gave him a Book of Mormon right on the very block where they had seen us. It was such a testimony builder to me that we are always being watched and that through our diligence and hard work we are gaining the member's trust.
So that boy from the story above...His name is Cody. He is 19 and super awesome! He rode by us on his skateboard and had his headphones in. We stopped him anyways. We ended up talking for 20 or so minutes. He was so open to everything we were saying and agreed to do everything we invited him to do. He even asked us for a card and our number! Which never happens! It was super cool!!
The last thing is that we received a referral this week and had made 3 attempts by phone. So we decided to just stop by. He was there and welcomed us. He has had all the lessons before and was nearly baptized. We have an appointment this week with him. The Lord is truly blessing our area.
That is just some of the events of this week! Things are going great and we are melting in the sun everyday!!! Today is a blazing 95! I can't believe it!
This week my companion and I had a super spiritual experience together. We were making lunch and talking about the atonement. We were talking about what physically happens when you are crucified. We talked about the pain that he must have gone through. My companion just got really quiet after a while. As we went to the car I noticed see had been crying. When we got in the song "I Feel My Savior's Love" came on and I looked over and she was crying. I asked her what was wrong and she just explained to me the gratitude that she had for the Savior. As we drove and listened to the song, I couldn't help but shed a few tears too. It is so powerful the love that Christ has for us! As we discussed it more charity filled our hearts and we were filled with renewed energy to walk the streets. I had an enthusiasm to share the gospel. It was such a powerful moment that really changed me. It was so awesome!
Well I hope all is well and I love you all! Thank you for all your love and support!
Love, Hermana Montgomery
This week has been a bit of a roller-coaster. The Edward family was baptized last week and every time we tried to come over or see them they were busy. We were finally able to meet with the mom and it went really well. Saturday night came and we still hadn't heard from them. So we decided to stop by. We went and talked to the girls and they were doing good. Sunday morning came and it was a bit of a hassle to get everything straightened out but we got it all set up. Sacrament started and they still hadn't come.....needless to say we were freaking out a little bit. But soon they came in. They were confirmed and it was amazing! They were so welcomed by the ward- it was great!
The next part of the roller-coaster was that all of our investigators couldn't meet with us. We were a little desperate for lessons and people to teach so we did the only thing I could think of. Hit the streets! We ended up finding 4 really great people that we are going back to see this week. I gained a stronger testimony of following the Spirit. And after the training on using the Book of Mormon in all the street contacts, we put it into action and it is truly powerful. We are still struggling trying to adjust but we are seeing miracles.
Sunday was the Restoration Musical that I auditioned for a while back. We had invited 5 or 6 people to the Restoration Musical and all of them cancelled at the last minute. I was so devastated. I really wanted to bring people and see the production that I almost got to be part of. I had been looking forward to it for so long. We scrambled and scrambled but nothing worked out. I shed a few tears and accepted the fact the Heavenly Father had a better plan. We had a lesson planned for that night but we still were unsure about what we should teach. I was super stressed and had the worst headache ever. I laid down on the floor and about 5 minutes later woke up and had a strong feeling we needed to teach Gospel of Jesus Christ. I asked Sister Wehrhahn and she said she has been dreaming a lot about faith. So we decided we were going to invite Taylor to be baptized. He has been invited before and before he could answer the member jumped in and said no. And another member told us my first week to not even think about asking him to be baptized. But we had met another time since then and we just felt so strongly that it was the right time. So we text the girlfriend and told her how we felt. She agreed that it was a good time. We invited her to extend the invitation and she said she would. So off to the lesson we go....we arrive and they have the biggest smiles. We followed up some things and asked if he any questions about the lesson in Sunday school. He had a great question that lead perfectly into the lesson. The Spirit was so strong!! We got to the step of baptism and the tension was building...we explained baptism and had him read a scripture but it didn't feel quite right. So we went around and each talked about our baptisms. We had a few really good pauses in which we were hoping the girlfriend would extend the invitation. But she didn't....so as I sat there in the silence I knew I would just have to do it. I got a lump in my throat and then just blurted out "We want to invite you to be baptized!" He got a HUGE smile on his face and joyful exclaimed "I AGREE! Throwing his arm in the air" It was one of the greatest feelings I have had in a while. We told him the date and looked at his phone and said it was perfect! The Spirit was so strong you could have cut it with a butter knife! Afterward he asked what he needed to know about that day so we told him a little about it and he was so excited. He offered the closing prayer and it was beautiful. As we left I just couldn't stop smiling! I could hardly fall asleep last night because I was so excited!
The other thing I gained a testimony of this week was being anxiously engaged in a good cause. We did a lot of walking and knocking doors this week. But what surprised me the most was the response from the members. We were walking and a car was pulled over to the side of the road. As we went by it turned out to be some of the ward missionaries. They said they had seen us walking down the road and so they decided to stop and see if we needed a ride somewhere. We told them no and that we had just met a really great lady up the street. And then at ward council on Sunday one of the counselors asked "Sisters, we you tracting on Carson yesterday or did you have appointments?" We told him that we were just walking, talking, and knocking and he said "My wife and I drove past and saw you across the street. We were going to honk but by the time we realized it was you it was too late." We were able to tell him that we actually had met a really nice guy and gave him a Book of Mormon right on the very block where they had seen us. It was such a testimony builder to me that we are always being watched and that through our diligence and hard work we are gaining the member's trust.
So that boy from the story above...His name is Cody. He is 19 and super awesome! He rode by us on his skateboard and had his headphones in. We stopped him anyways. We ended up talking for 20 or so minutes. He was so open to everything we were saying and agreed to do everything we invited him to do. He even asked us for a card and our number! Which never happens! It was super cool!!
The last thing is that we received a referral this week and had made 3 attempts by phone. So we decided to just stop by. He was there and welcomed us. He has had all the lessons before and was nearly baptized. We have an appointment this week with him. The Lord is truly blessing our area.
That is just some of the events of this week! Things are going great and we are melting in the sun everyday!!! Today is a blazing 95! I can't believe it!
This week my companion and I had a super spiritual experience together. We were making lunch and talking about the atonement. We were talking about what physically happens when you are crucified. We talked about the pain that he must have gone through. My companion just got really quiet after a while. As we went to the car I noticed see had been crying. When we got in the song "I Feel My Savior's Love" came on and I looked over and she was crying. I asked her what was wrong and she just explained to me the gratitude that she had for the Savior. As we drove and listened to the song, I couldn't help but shed a few tears too. It is so powerful the love that Christ has for us! As we discussed it more charity filled our hearts and we were filled with renewed energy to walk the streets. I had an enthusiasm to share the gospel. It was such a powerful moment that really changed me. It was so awesome!
Well I hope all is well and I love you all! Thank you for all your love and support!
Love, Hermana Montgomery
Sunday, September 14, 2014
September 8, 2014
Hello Everyone!!! I hope you all had a great back-to-school week!!
First of all I was transferred which I was SUPER sad about! But now that I am here I love it. The crazy thing is I am practically right back to where I came from, Torrance. I'm in the same church building, just one area over. It was crazy. I passed one of my old investigators on the road today....but it has been helpful because my companion is pretty new so it's nice that I sort of know my way around. Speaking of my companion. Her name is Sister Wehrhahn (Where-Haun) She is from Wisconsin and comes from a family of 4 girls. She is very sweet and bubbly. We are having a good time so far. I cut her hair today :)
THIS WEEK WAS FULL OF MIRACLES AND AWESOME PEOPLE!!!!
It seems that I just keep walking in on baptisms!! We had a baptism yesterday!!! My first day we had an appointment with the Edward family. They are a great family! We had a lesson and prepared them for their interviews. After a few stressful days, Sunday came and the baptism was a go! Tia, Rebecca, Hannah, and Grace were all baptized. Their family came and they said it was beautiful and they felt very welcome. It was really awesome! I'm grateful for the Edward family. They are sweet spirits. We are going to start teaching the 10 year old grandson and maybe a few more of the daughters :)
This week I also met Sister Carroll. She is a less active we are working with. She is going through a lot of struggles right now. But she has a strong desire to do the right things. I have really gained a testimony of the power of the Book of Mormon and applying it to our lives. It is incredible the things we have learned together and the strength of the Holy Ghost as we read. It really has been eye opening to me.
We also had another miracle experience. We were going to visit a less active family. We looked up their address and put it in the GPS. When it asked the house number, one preset one popped up, so we decided to check it out. We followed the GPS and we turned left and then it said "You have reached your destination on your right". We looked up at the house and Sister Wehrhahn says "This is Tracy's house!!" The crazy thing is that the address didn't match the one on the GPS but we decided to go for it anyways. We went to the door and we warmly welcomed. We taught the Restoration and watched the video. As we talked about families and how they can be forever, she cried and said "Ok, ok I'm sold!! Stop before I really cry" It was incredible. We invited her to be baptized and she said she had no idea what that meant but the it was something she would be interested in. We told her we would explain everything. We are going back Wednesday. It was such a testimony builder to me of following the Spirit and letting the gospel speak for itself. I think sometimes as missionaries we get too caught up in all the details that we forget the simple power of the Spirit. I am very grateful for this experience.
The last one I want to talk about is Robert. I think Adrian in my last area was preparation for Robert!! The spirit has been so helpful with him. We went in a little blind and with the guidance of the spirit we were able to have 3 really great lessons. We helped him understand that healing is possible through the Atonement and repentance. We taught him the Word of Wisdom and challenged him to live it. He said he would try it out and see what he thinks. We were also able to help him deal with some of the issues he was facing. We helped him understand the importance of taking responsibility for his actions and making sure everything gets taken care of. He has a lot of potential, he just needs to realize it is there and let everything else go.
Thank you all for your love and prayers!! I hope you are all doing well. Enjoy the fall weather because it is still cooking here....I don't think I'm too fond of not having seasons.... I love you all!!
Have a great week!
First of all I was transferred which I was SUPER sad about! But now that I am here I love it. The crazy thing is I am practically right back to where I came from, Torrance. I'm in the same church building, just one area over. It was crazy. I passed one of my old investigators on the road today....but it has been helpful because my companion is pretty new so it's nice that I sort of know my way around. Speaking of my companion. Her name is Sister Wehrhahn (Where-Haun) She is from Wisconsin and comes from a family of 4 girls. She is very sweet and bubbly. We are having a good time so far. I cut her hair today :)
THIS WEEK WAS FULL OF MIRACLES AND AWESOME PEOPLE!!!!
It seems that I just keep walking in on baptisms!! We had a baptism yesterday!!! My first day we had an appointment with the Edward family. They are a great family! We had a lesson and prepared them for their interviews. After a few stressful days, Sunday came and the baptism was a go! Tia, Rebecca, Hannah, and Grace were all baptized. Their family came and they said it was beautiful and they felt very welcome. It was really awesome! I'm grateful for the Edward family. They are sweet spirits. We are going to start teaching the 10 year old grandson and maybe a few more of the daughters :)
This week I also met Sister Carroll. She is a less active we are working with. She is going through a lot of struggles right now. But she has a strong desire to do the right things. I have really gained a testimony of the power of the Book of Mormon and applying it to our lives. It is incredible the things we have learned together and the strength of the Holy Ghost as we read. It really has been eye opening to me.
We also had another miracle experience. We were going to visit a less active family. We looked up their address and put it in the GPS. When it asked the house number, one preset one popped up, so we decided to check it out. We followed the GPS and we turned left and then it said "You have reached your destination on your right". We looked up at the house and Sister Wehrhahn says "This is Tracy's house!!" The crazy thing is that the address didn't match the one on the GPS but we decided to go for it anyways. We went to the door and we warmly welcomed. We taught the Restoration and watched the video. As we talked about families and how they can be forever, she cried and said "Ok, ok I'm sold!! Stop before I really cry" It was incredible. We invited her to be baptized and she said she had no idea what that meant but the it was something she would be interested in. We told her we would explain everything. We are going back Wednesday. It was such a testimony builder to me of following the Spirit and letting the gospel speak for itself. I think sometimes as missionaries we get too caught up in all the details that we forget the simple power of the Spirit. I am very grateful for this experience.
The last one I want to talk about is Robert. I think Adrian in my last area was preparation for Robert!! The spirit has been so helpful with him. We went in a little blind and with the guidance of the spirit we were able to have 3 really great lessons. We helped him understand that healing is possible through the Atonement and repentance. We taught him the Word of Wisdom and challenged him to live it. He said he would try it out and see what he thinks. We were also able to help him deal with some of the issues he was facing. We helped him understand the importance of taking responsibility for his actions and making sure everything gets taken care of. He has a lot of potential, he just needs to realize it is there and let everything else go.
Thank you all for your love and prayers!! I hope you are all doing well. Enjoy the fall weather because it is still cooking here....I don't think I'm too fond of not having seasons.... I love you all!!
Have a great week!
Another Transfer.. September 1, 2014
Hello everyone!!!! I hope you all had a great week and are enjoying your Labor Day!!!
This is a sad day for me....transfer calls came last night and my companion and I are both leaving the area :'( I'm super sad... I loved it here. We are both in shock. It makes me a little sick to my stomach.
This branch became my family. I made so many life long friendships and really connected to people here. There have seen so many miracles here, especially with less active and recent converts. This transfer we had 48 less active/ recent convert lessons. This week we found a golden investigator. Some of our other ones came back to us. We have a ton that are almost there. I just don't want to leave them. Two new sisters are coming in. Good luck to the new sisters. This area is huge and there is so many people they need to take care of!!!
I have never felt this way about transfers before but I know everything will work out.
So I'm going to Redondo Beach. Super nice area. English. Family ward. And I'm finishing training with a sister I have only seen once. It should be fun.
This week has been awesome!! We found a new investigator Kimberly. We found her name on the potentials list. We called and she asked us to come the next day. We went and had the most amazing how to begin teaching lesson I have had on my mission! It was incredible!! We asked her to be baptized if she comes to know it was true. She said "I would, I definitely would!" It was incredible!! I'm so excited for her!!!
This week we also went to the Visitors Center. It was so good. The Spirit was so strong! We went with a recent convert and 3 less actives. While we were there, Anibal went to the temple for the first time!!! Nothing brings more joy to a missionary than to see people got to the temple!! There was a lot that happened but these are the main events. There just isn't enough time to write everything!!
Yesterday was a super good day. We talked about being TRUE TO THE FAITH, and how as we learn about our ancestors we gain faith from them. Watch Brother Walker's talk from April conference and Brother Cook's talk "Roots and Branches". It was really good. We are blessed with such a strong heritage. We really can gain strength from them. Also watch the Mormon video "I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go". It is super good!
So a fun story of the week. I got to pet an iguana. It wasn't very big but it was cool.
I love you all so much!! Have a great week!
This is a sad day for me....transfer calls came last night and my companion and I are both leaving the area :'( I'm super sad... I loved it here. We are both in shock. It makes me a little sick to my stomach.
This branch became my family. I made so many life long friendships and really connected to people here. There have seen so many miracles here, especially with less active and recent converts. This transfer we had 48 less active/ recent convert lessons. This week we found a golden investigator. Some of our other ones came back to us. We have a ton that are almost there. I just don't want to leave them. Two new sisters are coming in. Good luck to the new sisters. This area is huge and there is so many people they need to take care of!!!
I have never felt this way about transfers before but I know everything will work out.
So I'm going to Redondo Beach. Super nice area. English. Family ward. And I'm finishing training with a sister I have only seen once. It should be fun.
This week has been awesome!! We found a new investigator Kimberly. We found her name on the potentials list. We called and she asked us to come the next day. We went and had the most amazing how to begin teaching lesson I have had on my mission! It was incredible!! We asked her to be baptized if she comes to know it was true. She said "I would, I definitely would!" It was incredible!! I'm so excited for her!!!
This week we also went to the Visitors Center. It was so good. The Spirit was so strong! We went with a recent convert and 3 less actives. While we were there, Anibal went to the temple for the first time!!! Nothing brings more joy to a missionary than to see people got to the temple!! There was a lot that happened but these are the main events. There just isn't enough time to write everything!!
Yesterday was a super good day. We talked about being TRUE TO THE FAITH, and how as we learn about our ancestors we gain faith from them. Watch Brother Walker's talk from April conference and Brother Cook's talk "Roots and Branches". It was really good. We are blessed with such a strong heritage. We really can gain strength from them. Also watch the Mormon video "I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go". It is super good!
So a fun story of the week. I got to pet an iguana. It wasn't very big but it was cool.
I love my companion so much! This has been the funnest transfer of my mission!!! My companion is hilarious and we laugh so hard we choke on water and cry from laughing. We clicked right away!! She has the best dog bark in the world!! She is hilarious and we are crazy together. But sadly today is our last day together :'( We are both getting transferred tomorrow. We have tons of crazy stories its just really hard to write them because you have to see the voice and action and stuff. This week we did some service cleaning this nasty kitchen...dishes to the ceiling, cockroaches everywhere, food from weeks ago buried on the counter. It was disgusting....we cleaned for 2 hours and we still didn't finish. To finish it off the water pipe is busted so when you would rinse the dishes, water would run out on the floor. It was nasty. And you know how much I love cleaning the kitchen anyways...that still hasn't changed haha At the beginning of my mission we helped a less active wash her flea infested dogs. As we washed them the fleas were jumping all over us. We had the heebie jeebies all day.... Another day we really had to go to the bathroom and there was no where to go and our appointments had cancelled so we were desperate. We started walking the streets looking for a place with a bathroom. No luck. So we walked back to our car and there is a Unidos con Cristo church across the street with the door open so we go in. It was super creepy....we found the bathroom. It was a one toileter but we went in together because it was creepy. As we were in there, someone tried to open the locked door. It wouldn't open so he shoved it and got it open. My companion screamed and yelled at him to get out! We got freaked out so I hurried and washed my hands and we ran out that church!!! Another time we found a new less active. We called him and he only spoke Spanish. We told him we would come over. We had a member come with us. He doesn't speak any Spanish. We were late and Steven (The member) text and said how do you say they are running late. We text him and told him to read it out loud. When Steven said Las Hermanas, the guy let him in. Then he called us saying Who is this guy?? Do you know him? He was a little upset. When we got there we realized he was blind. I think I already told this story but long one short. He took us to his room and tried to get us to come in his room by sitting on his bed, patting it and saying pasale con confianza.....so awkward!!! We had our lesson downstairs....and the only Spanish Steven said was Muchas Chichas hahaha. This just a start to the stories.... :)
I love you all so much!! Have a great week!
8 Months Down--August 25, 2014
Hello everyone!! These weeks are flying by!!!! This has been a week of miracles!!
Monday-We had dinner with a less active and her family. After dinner we found out that her older sister is not a member. She had a lot of questions and we were able to answer most of them. She was very curious. Unfortunately she is not YSA but it was still nice to teach her. Her YSA sister Monica asked if she thought the lessons would be good for her sister. We said yes. Hopefully we get to see them again soon and then transition her.
We had coordination on Tuesday morning and that day we had decided that since we hadn't seen any of our investigators in 2 weeks we were going to call them all one last time and if they didn't answer we would turn them back to the Lord. This is where the miracle happened. We got a hold of 2 of them!! We had a lesson with the one and the other one said that he could see us this coming week. It was such a boost to my testimony that when we trust the Lord. He really does provide us with the elect.
Another miracle comes from calling potentials. We had set the daily goal to receive one referral. As I called and called I was getting worn out. We ate dinner and then went back to making calls. I skipped one name and then about 20 minutes later I felt prompted to call the one I skipped. I called and she picked up. I began talking to her and as we talked I found out that she and her 19 year old brother we just talking the night before and were wanting to find a new church. They had already told their parents that they weren't going to go to Catholic church anymore and their parents were okay with it. She told me that they were actually planning to walk around Bell Gardens the next day to try and find a church. She was grateful that we had called her. She referred us her brother and we reached our goal for the day! We gave her information to the Elders and they set up an appointment with her for this coming week. Miracles happen through phone calls!! We also called a guy who is now living in Long Beach but he asked us to send the missionaries there. It was really cool. He seemed super interested, he also told us we could send missionaries to his aunt's house.
This week has been a bit of an emotional roller coaster. On Tuesday we found out about Joy's (one of our investigators) brother had died. That was hard for me. I have been in their shoes many times and all I want to do is go and be there to support them but they haven't let us come over yet :( We call and text them but we haven't seen them. I'm afraid that all of this might push Joy away. And I really don't want to see that happen. Also this week we found out that Pascual, our old neighbor was mugged in the alley and when he went to the hospital they found a tumor in his brain. Maybe cancer. Another stab to the heart! He is very scared and worried. He cried and told us that he feels like God played a role in this. If he hadn't have been punched he would have never gone to the doctor and he would have never found out. He said he feels that he knows now so that he can take care of it. He said that feels God is leaving him here on Earth for a reason -that there is something more he needs to do. After he shared this we BOLDLY and lovingly asked him if he would listen to the missionaries and find out about the message that we share. He said that he would. Since then the Elders had an appointment with him and he said he would like to keep learning. It was a really big testimony builder to me to see how the Lord prepares people and how when we are BOLD and LOVING they feel the spirit and respond according to God's will.
So like I mentioned last week our whole mission is reading the Book of Mormon together focusing on Christ. I never realized how much Christ is mentioned or referred to. Every single page is marked!! My testimony of Christ and the Book of Mormon is growing stronger every day. I am realizing parts of the story that I never did before. My faith is deepening. I encourage all of you to try this challenge. Get a new copy and only mark things that talk about Christ. You will be amazed!!
I love you all so much! Thank you for everything you do for me. Thank you for your prayers! I hope you all have a great week!!!
Love, Hermana Montgomery
Monday-We had dinner with a less active and her family. After dinner we found out that her older sister is not a member. She had a lot of questions and we were able to answer most of them. She was very curious. Unfortunately she is not YSA but it was still nice to teach her. Her YSA sister Monica asked if she thought the lessons would be good for her sister. We said yes. Hopefully we get to see them again soon and then transition her.
We had coordination on Tuesday morning and that day we had decided that since we hadn't seen any of our investigators in 2 weeks we were going to call them all one last time and if they didn't answer we would turn them back to the Lord. This is where the miracle happened. We got a hold of 2 of them!! We had a lesson with the one and the other one said that he could see us this coming week. It was such a boost to my testimony that when we trust the Lord. He really does provide us with the elect.
Another miracle comes from calling potentials. We had set the daily goal to receive one referral. As I called and called I was getting worn out. We ate dinner and then went back to making calls. I skipped one name and then about 20 minutes later I felt prompted to call the one I skipped. I called and she picked up. I began talking to her and as we talked I found out that she and her 19 year old brother we just talking the night before and were wanting to find a new church. They had already told their parents that they weren't going to go to Catholic church anymore and their parents were okay with it. She told me that they were actually planning to walk around Bell Gardens the next day to try and find a church. She was grateful that we had called her. She referred us her brother and we reached our goal for the day! We gave her information to the Elders and they set up an appointment with her for this coming week. Miracles happen through phone calls!! We also called a guy who is now living in Long Beach but he asked us to send the missionaries there. It was really cool. He seemed super interested, he also told us we could send missionaries to his aunt's house.
This week has been a bit of an emotional roller coaster. On Tuesday we found out about Joy's (one of our investigators) brother had died. That was hard for me. I have been in their shoes many times and all I want to do is go and be there to support them but they haven't let us come over yet :( We call and text them but we haven't seen them. I'm afraid that all of this might push Joy away. And I really don't want to see that happen. Also this week we found out that Pascual, our old neighbor was mugged in the alley and when he went to the hospital they found a tumor in his brain. Maybe cancer. Another stab to the heart! He is very scared and worried. He cried and told us that he feels like God played a role in this. If he hadn't have been punched he would have never gone to the doctor and he would have never found out. He said he feels that he knows now so that he can take care of it. He said that feels God is leaving him here on Earth for a reason -that there is something more he needs to do. After he shared this we BOLDLY and lovingly asked him if he would listen to the missionaries and find out about the message that we share. He said that he would. Since then the Elders had an appointment with him and he said he would like to keep learning. It was a really big testimony builder to me to see how the Lord prepares people and how when we are BOLD and LOVING they feel the spirit and respond according to God's will.
So like I mentioned last week our whole mission is reading the Book of Mormon together focusing on Christ. I never realized how much Christ is mentioned or referred to. Every single page is marked!! My testimony of Christ and the Book of Mormon is growing stronger every day. I am realizing parts of the story that I never did before. My faith is deepening. I encourage all of you to try this challenge. Get a new copy and only mark things that talk about Christ. You will be amazed!!
I love you all so much! Thank you for everything you do for me. Thank you for your prayers! I hope you all have a great week!!!
Love, Hermana Montgomery
August 18, 2014
Hello everyone!!! On one hand this week has flown by and on the other it has been so slow!! This week was full of ups and downs but its all part of the fun.
On the downside: All of our investigators have disappeared. They won't call or text us back and are not home when we go by. It is a little disheartening because I care about them so much and want them to progress and be happy. But we can't take away agency. But I know that the Lord has a plan.
On the upside: This week we were able to have a transition lesson and received our new investigator Joy. We found her a few weeks ago but she was being taught by some Elders. But because she is YSA we get to teach her. She is awesome. There is still some work to do before she will be ready for baptism but we are working with her. We also have a lot of potentials that we can start working with while our investigators are on hold.
Also on the upside we had zone conference this week! It was super good and just what I needed! We talked a lot about recent converts and how to help them progress towards the temple. We also focused on the Book of Mormon and how powerful it is in teaching and testifying. Zone conferences are always so good and fun. It gives you a chance to learn from a large group of missionaries and great leaders.
I had some very spiritual experiences this week. The first one was with our returning less-active Diego and another person we are visiting to invite him to the branch. This man is blind and speaks only Spanish. Diego came with us to the lesson and basically taught the whole thing and testified with so much power. It was incredible to see the missionary fire in him. After the lesson Elder (the blind one) asked if we could walk with him to the store. As we walked he asked if Diego could lead him. I struggled to hold back the tears as I saw them walking down the street arm in arm. I thought of how the Savior works the same way. At times we are blind to the things we should do and where we should go but the Savior will always take us by the hand and lead us where we need to be. It was a moment I will never forget.
The second experience was at Luisa's (one of Sister Anand's investigators) baptism. As the sister gave the talk on the Holy Ghost it really hit home to my heart. The way she explained it and talked about how it is our responsibility of what we do with the gift and how we are the only ones who really know how close or how far away we are from it. She encouraged us to make the Holy Ghost our best friend. It was such a good baptism...started a little rocky but ended very well!
The last thing I wanted to mention was the Book of Mormon challenge that our mission received. I am calling it the Find Your Savior challenge. At zone conference we were all given a new copy of the Book of Mormon to read as a mission, only highlighting things regarding the Savior. We are reading 2 chapters a day and will finish December 10th. I invite you all to do it with us. We started yesterday and I have already felt my testimony grow. I realized that I was always so focused on the story that I didn't notice how much Christ is mentioned. My eyes have really been opened.
I hope you all have a great week and I love you all so much!
On the downside: All of our investigators have disappeared. They won't call or text us back and are not home when we go by. It is a little disheartening because I care about them so much and want them to progress and be happy. But we can't take away agency. But I know that the Lord has a plan.
On the upside: This week we were able to have a transition lesson and received our new investigator Joy. We found her a few weeks ago but she was being taught by some Elders. But because she is YSA we get to teach her. She is awesome. There is still some work to do before she will be ready for baptism but we are working with her. We also have a lot of potentials that we can start working with while our investigators are on hold.
Also on the upside we had zone conference this week! It was super good and just what I needed! We talked a lot about recent converts and how to help them progress towards the temple. We also focused on the Book of Mormon and how powerful it is in teaching and testifying. Zone conferences are always so good and fun. It gives you a chance to learn from a large group of missionaries and great leaders.
I had some very spiritual experiences this week. The first one was with our returning less-active Diego and another person we are visiting to invite him to the branch. This man is blind and speaks only Spanish. Diego came with us to the lesson and basically taught the whole thing and testified with so much power. It was incredible to see the missionary fire in him. After the lesson Elder (the blind one) asked if we could walk with him to the store. As we walked he asked if Diego could lead him. I struggled to hold back the tears as I saw them walking down the street arm in arm. I thought of how the Savior works the same way. At times we are blind to the things we should do and where we should go but the Savior will always take us by the hand and lead us where we need to be. It was a moment I will never forget.
The second experience was at Luisa's (one of Sister Anand's investigators) baptism. As the sister gave the talk on the Holy Ghost it really hit home to my heart. The way she explained it and talked about how it is our responsibility of what we do with the gift and how we are the only ones who really know how close or how far away we are from it. She encouraged us to make the Holy Ghost our best friend. It was such a good baptism...started a little rocky but ended very well!
The last thing I wanted to mention was the Book of Mormon challenge that our mission received. I am calling it the Find Your Savior challenge. At zone conference we were all given a new copy of the Book of Mormon to read as a mission, only highlighting things regarding the Savior. We are reading 2 chapters a day and will finish December 10th. I invite you all to do it with us. We started yesterday and I have already felt my testimony grow. I realized that I was always so focused on the story that I didn't notice how much Christ is mentioned. My eyes have really been opened.
I hope you all have a great week and I love you all so much!
Saturday, August 16, 2014
August 11, 2014
Hello Everyone!
This week has been kinda slow. We only had a few lesson and nothing too exciting....We taught Roger and hopefully we will get to go to the visitors center with him! We also taught Adrian the word of wisdom. That was really fun! More to come on that after the mission :)
We have a new branch mission leader and he is really excited to work.
We had a super good zone training meeting. President Wiedman and President Larson (stake pres) came. It was really awesome! I love President Weidman. He has such a sense of humor! It is nice!
Coming up this next week is Zone Conference!!! I love Zone Conference!! This one is going to focus a lot on recent converts since the policy had changed!
This is some Brazilian food that I made this week--Chicken, bullion, onions, ketchup, and sweet and condensed milk. Super yummy!!
These are some of the best tacos ever!
Gotta love the frozen yogurt!! YUMM!
Sorry I don't have a lot of time or much to write about but things are going well and I'm really enjoying it!!
I hope you all have a great week!
Hermana Montgomery
This week has been kinda slow. We only had a few lesson and nothing too exciting....We taught Roger and hopefully we will get to go to the visitors center with him! We also taught Adrian the word of wisdom. That was really fun! More to come on that after the mission :)
We have a new branch mission leader and he is really excited to work.
We had a super good zone training meeting. President Wiedman and President Larson (stake pres) came. It was really awesome! I love President Weidman. He has such a sense of humor! It is nice!
Coming up this next week is Zone Conference!!! I love Zone Conference!! This one is going to focus a lot on recent converts since the policy had changed!
This is some Brazilian food that I made this week--Chicken, bullion, onions, ketchup, and sweet and condensed milk. Super yummy!!
These are some of the best tacos ever!
Gotta love the frozen yogurt!! YUMM!
Sorry I don't have a lot of time or much to write about but things are going well and I'm really enjoying it!!
I hope you all have a great week!
Hermana Montgomery
Monday, August 4, 2014
Lovin' Life!
This week has felt super long!!! But it has been good...as always :)
Lets just start on Monday: We had our regular preparation day....plus a bunch of extra craziness. But I finally got my hair cut after 6 months :)
Average day of planning:
We were in charge of FHE. We played Agua en su Cara. It is a super fun game were everyone sits in a circle. One person picks a category and a topic and then you go around the circle and each person say s something under that topic. If you guess it right then the person who is it throws a cup of water in your face. It went super well and was really fun. Then we played water balloon volleyball! The Branch is awesome!
Tuesday: We went and visited Adriana. She was really sick so we weren't there long. Then we went and had a lesson with Roger. He is a little slower so it is taking us a while to teach him. He also cancels a lot of appointments which is really sad :(
Then we went and saw Diego. He is so cool!!! We had a really good lesson with him and we also got a lesson on telescopic elevators....
This is Diego and his tattoo of Christ. :)
Then we went and saw Pasqual and Angela. He gave us tortas and ice cream. He has the best tortas in all the world!!!
Wednesday: Wednesday was slow but we made a lot of phone calls. We have "700" less active in our branch so we are working really hard to get all that information cleaned up. It takes a lot of time. We had dinner with the Fox family and the Massie's came. It was super good as always. We had jalupes (you know the Fritos with chili and all the works).
Thursday: We found a person who should be in the branch but hasn't come. We went to visit him and turns out he is blind and only speaks Spanish. It was one of the coolest lessons on my mission. He is from Honduras and was in an accident 5 years ago that left him blind. He came to the US 2 months ago and is a professional soccer player for a blind league. He has won a ton of championships. And in 2016 is going to play in Canada. He is so awesome! I have never been so impressed by someone. He lives in south central which is like GHETTO and crazy. He lives alone in an upstairs room. He has the Book of Mormon in Spanish braille and he was reading it for us. He is so awesome and may start coming to our branch. Then we had two dinners. One with a guy named Joseph. He is a theater major and was in Parks and Recreations(TV show). The other one was with Vera the less active we are working with. She was sick as well. Everyone is sick around here. After ward we went to visit some other should-be-coming people and we ended up jumping out of the car to talk to a random stranger. It was pretty creepy on our part but he gave us his number and when we called him back he told us we could come over and teach him. Sometimes being creepy pays off.
Friday: We went to find another one of those should be coming to the branch people. We drove all the way to LA and then everything was locked so we couldn't get in and then her phone wasn't working. But luckily a man came and opened the door. We went and visited her and she is awesome!! Her sister is not a member so we are going to start teaching her! Then we saw Diego again. He was going to bring his brother to church but they got in a car accident on Saturday. But everything is ok. For dinner we had Brazilian hot dogs. Basically you take the bun-put mayo-then tomato sauce with onions-then your hot dog- then sweet corn-then ketchup-then mashed potatoes-and then crushed Doritos. Sounds nasty....tastes delicious!!
Saturday: Today we did service!! There is a girl in our branch whose grandparents died recently. We were moving all the stuff out of their house.It was super fun and I made a comment about bringing my muscles and now I'll never live it down.....
After we went and had cold stone. It was so yummy. That night we had lessons with Hiro, Ani, the Riveras, and Nelly. It was so good to see all of them after a week of hardly any appointments.
Sunday: Fast Sunday! It was so good. Our high councilman brought his two non-member nephews to church. If you just looked at them you would run the other way. Tattoos and weird facial hair and gaged ears. But they were so nice! They are going to let us come and teach them. After church we had linger longer. We had home made mac and cheese. It was so good! After that we went home and made phone calls to try and set up some appointments.
Then we went and had alphabet soup and quesadillas with the Cueves family.
That pretty much sums up the week. Sorry for all the boring details.
But something a little more spiritual that I read this morning. Alma 10. Here Amulek is sharing his story. He talks about how he is very rich and well known and he always turned away from God. He even claims that God didn't exist, but then he says, actually I knew He existed but I chose to push him away and deny that he was real so I could keep my lifestyle without feeling guilty. He goes on to say how his whole life changed. As I read this I thought about how at time we deny the things we know to be true so that we can justify our actions. What kind of excuses do we make for ourselves? How many times do we stop to think about the the blessings and miracles we have seen in our lives? Anyways just some food for thought for this week :)
I hope you are all doing well and are enjoying your summer! I love you all and am grateful for all of your examples!
Love,
Hermana Montgomery
Lets just start on Monday: We had our regular preparation day....plus a bunch of extra craziness. But I finally got my hair cut after 6 months :)
Average day of planning:
We were in charge of FHE. We played Agua en su Cara. It is a super fun game were everyone sits in a circle. One person picks a category and a topic and then you go around the circle and each person say s something under that topic. If you guess it right then the person who is it throws a cup of water in your face. It went super well and was really fun. Then we played water balloon volleyball! The Branch is awesome!
Tuesday: We went and visited Adriana. She was really sick so we weren't there long. Then we went and had a lesson with Roger. He is a little slower so it is taking us a while to teach him. He also cancels a lot of appointments which is really sad :(
Then we went and saw Diego. He is so cool!!! We had a really good lesson with him and we also got a lesson on telescopic elevators....
This is Diego and his tattoo of Christ. :)
Then we went and saw Pasqual and Angela. He gave us tortas and ice cream. He has the best tortas in all the world!!!
Wednesday: Wednesday was slow but we made a lot of phone calls. We have "700" less active in our branch so we are working really hard to get all that information cleaned up. It takes a lot of time. We had dinner with the Fox family and the Massie's came. It was super good as always. We had jalupes (you know the Fritos with chili and all the works).
Thursday: We found a person who should be in the branch but hasn't come. We went to visit him and turns out he is blind and only speaks Spanish. It was one of the coolest lessons on my mission. He is from Honduras and was in an accident 5 years ago that left him blind. He came to the US 2 months ago and is a professional soccer player for a blind league. He has won a ton of championships. And in 2016 is going to play in Canada. He is so awesome! I have never been so impressed by someone. He lives in south central which is like GHETTO and crazy. He lives alone in an upstairs room. He has the Book of Mormon in Spanish braille and he was reading it for us. He is so awesome and may start coming to our branch. Then we had two dinners. One with a guy named Joseph. He is a theater major and was in Parks and Recreations(TV show). The other one was with Vera the less active we are working with. She was sick as well. Everyone is sick around here. After ward we went to visit some other should-be-coming people and we ended up jumping out of the car to talk to a random stranger. It was pretty creepy on our part but he gave us his number and when we called him back he told us we could come over and teach him. Sometimes being creepy pays off.
Friday: We went to find another one of those should be coming to the branch people. We drove all the way to LA and then everything was locked so we couldn't get in and then her phone wasn't working. But luckily a man came and opened the door. We went and visited her and she is awesome!! Her sister is not a member so we are going to start teaching her! Then we saw Diego again. He was going to bring his brother to church but they got in a car accident on Saturday. But everything is ok. For dinner we had Brazilian hot dogs. Basically you take the bun-put mayo-then tomato sauce with onions-then your hot dog- then sweet corn-then ketchup-then mashed potatoes-and then crushed Doritos. Sounds nasty....tastes delicious!!
After we went and had cold stone. It was so yummy. That night we had lessons with Hiro, Ani, the Riveras, and Nelly. It was so good to see all of them after a week of hardly any appointments.
Sunday: Fast Sunday! It was so good. Our high councilman brought his two non-member nephews to church. If you just looked at them you would run the other way. Tattoos and weird facial hair and gaged ears. But they were so nice! They are going to let us come and teach them. After church we had linger longer. We had home made mac and cheese. It was so good! After that we went home and made phone calls to try and set up some appointments.
Then we went and had alphabet soup and quesadillas with the Cueves family.
That pretty much sums up the week. Sorry for all the boring details.
But something a little more spiritual that I read this morning. Alma 10. Here Amulek is sharing his story. He talks about how he is very rich and well known and he always turned away from God. He even claims that God didn't exist, but then he says, actually I knew He existed but I chose to push him away and deny that he was real so I could keep my lifestyle without feeling guilty. He goes on to say how his whole life changed. As I read this I thought about how at time we deny the things we know to be true so that we can justify our actions. What kind of excuses do we make for ourselves? How many times do we stop to think about the the blessings and miracles we have seen in our lives? Anyways just some food for thought for this week :)
I hope you are all doing well and are enjoying your summer! I love you all and am grateful for all of your examples!
Love,
Hermana Montgomery
7 MONTHS!!
I can't believe how fast time is flying!!! It really is crazy!! I can't believe that it has almost been a year since I got my mission call.
Anyways....The work is going well! We have had a slower week but full of miracles none the less.
The Highlights:
-Brandon went to the temple!!
-We took Ani (recent convert) to a lesson and he did great!! He is reading 2 chapters a day in the Book of Mormon and is almost done with his home teaching for the month!
-We took Adrian to the visitors center and we watched the Restoration. It was so good and he said an awesome prayer. The next night he called and told us he prayed and knows that Joseph Smith is true. He also prayed for a job and got one the next day!!! We saw his dad at the store and he was so excited to talk to us!! Anyways he is straight up gangster but really wants to change.
-Vic is doing awesome! Still can't come to church but is reading and praying and meeting with us.
-We also had exchanges. They were awesome! I love exchanges. You learn so much!
-We are in charge of FHE and we are going to have a blast!!
-I love my companion!! She is awesome and crazy and she has the best bark I have ever heard!
I didn't have much time this week. But I love you all and thank you for your emails!!
Have a great week!!
Love, Hermana Montgomery
Anyways....The work is going well! We have had a slower week but full of miracles none the less.
The Highlights:
-Brandon went to the temple!!
-We took Ani (recent convert) to a lesson and he did great!! He is reading 2 chapters a day in the Book of Mormon and is almost done with his home teaching for the month!
-We took Adrian to the visitors center and we watched the Restoration. It was so good and he said an awesome prayer. The next night he called and told us he prayed and knows that Joseph Smith is true. He also prayed for a job and got one the next day!!! We saw his dad at the store and he was so excited to talk to us!! Anyways he is straight up gangster but really wants to change.
-Vic is doing awesome! Still can't come to church but is reading and praying and meeting with us.
-We also had exchanges. They were awesome! I love exchanges. You learn so much!
-We are in charge of FHE and we are going to have a blast!!
-I love my companion!! She is awesome and crazy and she has the best bark I have ever heard!
I didn't have much time this week. But I love you all and thank you for your emails!!
Have a great week!!
Love, Hermana Montgomery
Thursday, July 24, 2014
Miracles, Miracles, and MORE Miracles!!
Hello Everyone!!!
This week has been amazing!! I love the YSA branch so much!! We have had so many miracles this week!
We had a few lessons with a less active Diego and he super wants to come back. He has been less active for 4 years but he has been coming to church and meeting with us and is doing awesome!
We also had another less active at church, Vera. We have met with her a few times and she came to church! Everyone was shocked to see her there!
We also had a miracle with a mix up in our phone. We had been texting an Adrian all week and he was responding really weird to our messages. We were confirming our appointment and he asked if we could move it to that night and then he gave us his address. We went and as we were about to knock on the door we hear "Hey over here" I said "That's not Adrian" but we went over and he was holding a plate of cake and told us we could come on back to the backyard. We asked if Adrian was back there and he goes "No, I'm Adrian" We were super confused and he said "Well you guys are Mormons right?" We said yes and he said "Yeah come share the word with me". We found out that we had been texting the wrong Adrian all week!! Turns out he used to talk to missionaries but then lost contact with them. He said that when he got our text message he thought it was a sign from God that he needed to get back into religion. As we asked him to give the closing prayer and were explaining about prayer he said "Well how will I know if God is answering me?" We told him it would be how he felt. We invited and taught him how to pray. He said a very heartfelt prayer and then just stood there silently and then smiled and said "My whole back just relaxed, not only my mind but my whole body!" It was a super cool experience. The Lord works in mysterious ways!
We also had another miracle. Hiro had an appointment with us and just before he text us and told us he would be late because he was bringing his friend Nate. Nate is a non-member that came to his baptism. We had a really good lesson with Nate and he gave us permission to refer him to the Gardena missionaries.
But the miracles don't end there!! This week we received a referral from the Santa Monica YSA. We called the referral and set up an appointment with him. When we showed up at the church for our appointment he was already there. He was super polite and really interested in our message. We invited him to be baptized and he said "The other sisters already asked me but I wasn't sure but with everything I've seen this week- I think I'll say yes!" He is so prepared. His one concern is that he wanted to read the whole Book of Mormon first. I bore my testimony that you don't have to read the whole thing to know if its true. Then we read 1 Nephi Chapter 1 with him. At the end we asked what he thought and he said "I think you are right! I don't need to read the whole thing. I already feel like its speaking to me!" The whole lesson he kept saying "It just feels good and right" He also came to the departing missionary fireside and loved it!! He said that he felt everyone was talking to him. And then randomly President Larson walked up and asked who he was and what ward he was in and Victor said "That was another sign! He didn't talk to anyone but me!" We introduced him my friend Chris, a member from the Hollywood ward and he shared his conversion story with him and it was amazing! Afterward, Victor said "I think he is right, I just need to take the leap of faith and get baptized!" Then at about 9:30 we got a text message asking if we could talk. We called and he told us that he had gone home and talked to his parents about getting baptism and that he didn't get the response he was hoping for. They weren't very happy with him and tried to convince him to stay in the Catholic church. He was very confused because his family said one thing but his heart was saying another. And then I gained a testimony of reading the Book of Mormon during personal study. I had just read a similar story in Alma 20. So we invited him to read it and he said "Ok I will and I will keep praying that my parents will understand" We told him how proud we were of him and he thanked us for calling.
This week has been amazing and what I have written doesn't even scratch the surface!!
Also this week we moved apartments! Our new apartment is one of the best in the mission. There is carpet, tile, working plumbing, overhead light fixtures, air conditioning, and NO ANTS!!!! And our managers last name is Montgomery :)
Also I am realizing that Heavenly Father has answered my prayers in a different way! I prayed that I would get sent far away to another place for my mission but instead he brought the world to me! :) I have had a companion from Mexico and I met someone from almost all the Central American countries. Then I had a Tongan companion. And then a French one. And then I moved to a place where I met people from all over the Middle East. Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Egypt, Palestine, Pakistan, Georgia, Jordan, etc.... Then I got a companion from Idaho but there are a few stray countries here. And now I am going to have a companion from Brazil. She is a sister from the Visitors Center. But she is taking her turn out! I will be staying here in the YSA and I'm super happy!!
Yesterday was the departing missionary fireside! It was so good!!! And I was able to see a lot of people from Hollywood which made me super duper happy!! And I did see a few from Torrance. I love going to those because the spirit is super strong and its like a big reunion!! There are 26 missionaries going home and there were 1,000 people there!!! It's awesome!!
Also for those of you who are wondering- I didn't make it into the musical performance :( I was a little bummed but it is okay. There will be more opportunities. I think they gave it people who go home sooner than me.
Anyways I am doing great!! I hope you all are doing good and that everything is going well. I encourage you all to either listen or read the talk from April Conference "Your 4 Minutes" I read it this week and it really touched me and then they gave a talk on it at church! Check it out if you get a chance!!
I love you all!
Hermana Montgomery
This week has been amazing!! I love the YSA branch so much!! We have had so many miracles this week!
We had a few lessons with a less active Diego and he super wants to come back. He has been less active for 4 years but he has been coming to church and meeting with us and is doing awesome!
We also had another less active at church, Vera. We have met with her a few times and she came to church! Everyone was shocked to see her there!
We also had a miracle with a mix up in our phone. We had been texting an Adrian all week and he was responding really weird to our messages. We were confirming our appointment and he asked if we could move it to that night and then he gave us his address. We went and as we were about to knock on the door we hear "Hey over here" I said "That's not Adrian" but we went over and he was holding a plate of cake and told us we could come on back to the backyard. We asked if Adrian was back there and he goes "No, I'm Adrian" We were super confused and he said "Well you guys are Mormons right?" We said yes and he said "Yeah come share the word with me". We found out that we had been texting the wrong Adrian all week!! Turns out he used to talk to missionaries but then lost contact with them. He said that when he got our text message he thought it was a sign from God that he needed to get back into religion. As we asked him to give the closing prayer and were explaining about prayer he said "Well how will I know if God is answering me?" We told him it would be how he felt. We invited and taught him how to pray. He said a very heartfelt prayer and then just stood there silently and then smiled and said "My whole back just relaxed, not only my mind but my whole body!" It was a super cool experience. The Lord works in mysterious ways!
We also had another miracle. Hiro had an appointment with us and just before he text us and told us he would be late because he was bringing his friend Nate. Nate is a non-member that came to his baptism. We had a really good lesson with Nate and he gave us permission to refer him to the Gardena missionaries.
But the miracles don't end there!! This week we received a referral from the Santa Monica YSA. We called the referral and set up an appointment with him. When we showed up at the church for our appointment he was already there. He was super polite and really interested in our message. We invited him to be baptized and he said "The other sisters already asked me but I wasn't sure but with everything I've seen this week- I think I'll say yes!" He is so prepared. His one concern is that he wanted to read the whole Book of Mormon first. I bore my testimony that you don't have to read the whole thing to know if its true. Then we read 1 Nephi Chapter 1 with him. At the end we asked what he thought and he said "I think you are right! I don't need to read the whole thing. I already feel like its speaking to me!" The whole lesson he kept saying "It just feels good and right" He also came to the departing missionary fireside and loved it!! He said that he felt everyone was talking to him. And then randomly President Larson walked up and asked who he was and what ward he was in and Victor said "That was another sign! He didn't talk to anyone but me!" We introduced him my friend Chris, a member from the Hollywood ward and he shared his conversion story with him and it was amazing! Afterward, Victor said "I think he is right, I just need to take the leap of faith and get baptized!" Then at about 9:30 we got a text message asking if we could talk. We called and he told us that he had gone home and talked to his parents about getting baptism and that he didn't get the response he was hoping for. They weren't very happy with him and tried to convince him to stay in the Catholic church. He was very confused because his family said one thing but his heart was saying another. And then I gained a testimony of reading the Book of Mormon during personal study. I had just read a similar story in Alma 20. So we invited him to read it and he said "Ok I will and I will keep praying that my parents will understand" We told him how proud we were of him and he thanked us for calling.
This week has been amazing and what I have written doesn't even scratch the surface!!
Also this week we moved apartments! Our new apartment is one of the best in the mission. There is carpet, tile, working plumbing, overhead light fixtures, air conditioning, and NO ANTS!!!! And our managers last name is Montgomery :)
Also I am realizing that Heavenly Father has answered my prayers in a different way! I prayed that I would get sent far away to another place for my mission but instead he brought the world to me! :) I have had a companion from Mexico and I met someone from almost all the Central American countries. Then I had a Tongan companion. And then a French one. And then I moved to a place where I met people from all over the Middle East. Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Egypt, Palestine, Pakistan, Georgia, Jordan, etc.... Then I got a companion from Idaho but there are a few stray countries here. And now I am going to have a companion from Brazil. She is a sister from the Visitors Center. But she is taking her turn out! I will be staying here in the YSA and I'm super happy!!
Yesterday was the departing missionary fireside! It was so good!!! And I was able to see a lot of people from Hollywood which made me super duper happy!! And I did see a few from Torrance. I love going to those because the spirit is super strong and its like a big reunion!! There are 26 missionaries going home and there were 1,000 people there!!! It's awesome!!
Also for those of you who are wondering- I didn't make it into the musical performance :( I was a little bummed but it is okay. There will be more opportunities. I think they gave it people who go home sooner than me.
I love you all!
Hermana Montgomery
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