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!

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

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

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

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 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

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

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

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