August 18, 2014

August 18, 2014

 

Dear Mom and home!

Transfers just ended and my companion, Elder Robbins, and I are sticking together! Woohoo! We also went to the temple with some RC's  this week, which was awesome because it was their first time and they were doing baptisms for the dead for their family. And hey, guess what? We have two investigators on date for baptisms on September 20th! Woohoo!

Glad to hear about Disneyland :) some chocolate peanut butter fudge sounds sooo good right now. If you didn't buy any, that's cool, it's always a gift to know you're happy and you had a good time :) please take it easy on your back, Mom! Don't hurt yourself!

 

There's nothing really new to report except for those two new investigators on date for the 20th of September. A family who we met two weeks ago, met with us this on Wednesday and told us they wanted to be baptized. They met with missionaries a few years ago, but their house was burned down.

 

I'm also giving a talk this next Sunday about recognizing the Spirit in Gurnee 1st Ward... so that's something else to work on! Woohoo!

 

Love you so much family, and please be safe!

 

Elder Montgomery

 

PS I think it'll be easier if we just stick to one email chain. Not sure how you worked with my brothers in their emails, but to me - one email chain is much better!

 

PPS my BG's are doing just fine

 

PPPS I've been riding my bike a few times! I fell twice, but it's okay because I expected to anyway! Not hurt too bad!

 

PPPPS I'll include some pictures of me at the Chicago temple next week if I remember!

August 11, 2014

I got my insulin and it was nice and cold, so thanks for that! Not sure what to do about the ice packs; I have three now and it's probably going to keep piling up. I'll send some back in the first package I send home I guess.

So I may have mentioned before, but there's this less active family  who we're trying to get back to church. They actually came this Sunday! Woohoo! But wait, something crazier is in the works right now. So we met with this new PNI, and we talked with him this Tuesday. We gave a brief message on the Restoration but left mid-lesson since he received a call from work. As we left, we saw this young girl walking on the sidewalk in our direction. When we approached her, Elder Robbins recognized her! She's the girlfriend to one of a membes’ kids! When we talked to her we realized that our investigator - is her brother. Crazy, right? Everything here is connected somehow.

I'd just like to leave with a spiritual thought. Whatever temptations we face, or whatever trials, challenges, or whatever unfairness obstructs us is for one single purpose - to give us the opportunity to respond with the principles taught by Jesus Christ.

I believe that's stated by someone named Lawrence E. Corbridge. Anyway, want to leave you with that and wish you the best! 

Love,

-Elder Montgomery

August 4, 2014

Hello family!

 This week has been tons of fun. Glad to hear everything is going well, and sorry to hear about your back! Please be 100% better by the time I return, okay? Every time you talk about Carson or Monroe, it's just... man, I miss them. Carson is just such a stinking adorable little dude and it's going to be so weird to see him walking and speaking when I return!

 So Friday we had a car wash, from 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM. We all got roasted!! We as missionaries from Gurnee 1st, 2nd, and the Spanish Branch participated in the event and washed a bunch of cars for free at the church building. When someone who wasn't a member stopped by, we'd invite them for a tour of the church and give them free donuts/BoM's. It was an awesome way to receive some new PNI's (Potential New Investigators) and we all had a lot of fun while doing it. If I were a steak I'd be just about medium-well now, but hey that's good, because I still have some blood in me ;) I have a nice farmer's tan! Woohoo!

 No new updates on our investigators. We're still working on them, piece by piece. We received a lot of PNI's this past week so we're hoping to get back to them so we'd have a busy schedule this coming week.

So the rules on Facebook: no one can tag me or post on my wall, and I cannot post anything outside of my "character" as a missionary. My account is primarily to friend and fellowship investigators/recent converts, and to occasionally post spiritual messages. If you find a thoughtful picture or a quote by some General Authority, please share it with me via email! You can still like my posts, though :)

 My insulin should be good for another month - I have half a dozen vials or so and I empty one every 9-12 days. BG numbers are doing great - more or less. Of course it's not perfect, but it's manageable. I actually fasted this Sunday without any Diabetic complications interfering. I just set my basal rates to 50% and that did the trick. I also bore my testimony in sacrament, which was pretty sweet.

 I testified of something that really impacted me earlier this week. I heard from another Elder this saying: "God does not love us if we're perfect . He's perfect, so He loves us." Man, that sunk in pretty deep, but it's so true. He is perfect and whether we are sinful or striving to be righteous, He will still love us. That's part of perfection. If we're striving to be Christ-like, we must too learn to love everyone unconditionally. Everyone!

 Love you all, and I wish you the best,

 Elder Montgomery

June 28, 2014

June 28, 2014

 

Hey Mom,

As I believe I've stated before, I'm in the Buffalo Grove Stake (or did I forget to mention that?) so when Daniel says he wants bump into me in Chicago, the bad news is that I'm way up north in the Waukegan/Gurnee area. Six Flags, though, is in Gurnee and I pass by it every day. I'll try to keep an eye out for him.

Brother ***** is a great member here; he's joined us in several member-missionary lessons with other investigators/less-actives. I'm not sure if he talked to you about his mission, but he served in the San Diego, California mission a long time ago (he's 59 years-old now) and said he served in Yuma for several months. He's like the only person here who knows what it's like to live in Arizona!

Not much news up here, though. ***** wants to be baptized because it's "new" and "exciting" but not because he has that devotion to Jesus Christ and God. We really need to just plant that in his head that this is more than a "be baptized and you're saved" type of deal - it's a commitment for life.

We were with ***** and his son, *****, yesterday and went tracting to less-active member homes. It was at our first house (that Elder Robbins felt we should go first) that we actually ran into a carpenter that was working on a house two houses from where we were "supposed" to go. We just casually introduced ourselves to him because hey, open your mouth, right? We didn't expect to talk to him for more than a minute, and amazingly, he was receptive to our message. He was really just a broken down man thirsting for some spiritual guidance. When I hear about the "elect", or those that are ready to receive our message, he is a golden example. We talked to him for about an hour before the Spanish Missionaries we contacted showed up. I'm optimistic that he'll be okay.

 Anyway, that's my spiritual thought for today. Always remember - open your mouth. Whether it's someone on the street you weren't expecting to meet or somebody you've known for years, always open your mouth and share a message or a thoughtful gesture centered on the gospel.

Love you all,

Elder Montgomery