A Student of the Scriptures - June 23, 2014

Dear Family,

What a week it has been. I am sure there is never enough time to get everything done that is needed.

We are continuing to meet with Jason and Gaby, there are gold. Gaby is always looking things up on Mormon.org since we showed her, we've realized they like videos a lot so we've been using a lot of Mormon messages and things. Every time we start, when she gives me her iPad to find it, she's got two or three windows of Mormon.org open and is studying. She's also already in Second Nephi! She is eating it up. We've been trying a lot to help Jason read more, since he struggles with any kind of reading, and we showed him how to listen to it as well. Hopefully that will help. Prayers for them would always be good :)

We had a surprise exchange this week with some other sisters in the mission, there was still a lot of things that needed to be decided before transfers came up-don't worry I'll get to that. So Sister Morrell got to come with Sister Chambers and Ion Tuesday, while Sister Done when With her companion, Sister Hill. I have wanted to be companions with Sister Morrell my whole mission, since she was trained by Sister Wright too. She's going to BYUI in the winter semester, so we've decided to room together. I think I have an apartment of TSAM missionaries to live with back at school. It'll be fun :)

So transfer calls came last night. Sister Chambers is going to be going home-we take her to the mission home tomorrow morning, and Sister Done will be transferred to a new area as well. I will be staying and getting a new companion on Thursday. Number fourteen. Fourteen companions.  And six areas! My mission has been busy. 

So some fun facts about my mission: I've had only two companions for more than one transfer (Sister Miller when I was trained and Sister Young when I was training, both I only had for two), I have gotten a new companion every six weeks for a year by the time I come home (Sisters Hopkins, Miller, Wright, Leavitt, Young, Clements, Lund, Pond, Rodriguez, Staker, Reagan, Done Chambers and New companion). Eleven Spanish called and two English. I’ve had six companions that came into the mission on the same day has me. I've had only four companions that haven't been from Utah. I've had three companions that were nineteen when they came out (the others were 20 or older). I've also had 26 exchanges with other Sisters in the mission. The longest I've served in an area was three transfers (Pleasanton Ward). The Shortest was one transfer (Hill Country ward). I've covered three Wards and six Branches: two Spanish, Two YSA and one Air force. I won't go into how many zone meetings or P-days or things. Another day :)

There's some fun information. Interesting to reflect on that kind of stuff. Enjoy.

We sang in church this last Sunday, I don't remember if I told y'all we were going to. Anyways, we were going to sing I Believe in Christ but breath support and things ended up being kind'a tricky and we changed it and sang Savior, Redeemer of my Soul as song in the Joseph Smith Movie. It's become one of my favorites on my mission. It's just feels so accurate to how I feel about the Savior. And when things have started to get me down, I've remembered the line "hath it not been my one delight, my joy by day my dream by night? That was the solo part I actually got to sing in sacrament meeting. Both of my Companions can sing pretty well, and I 'd been translating the talks into Spanish for a Sister in our ward that only speaks Spanish beforehand, so my voice was already a little bit shot, but eh. Esta bien.

Saturday night, Gaby had been talking with her aunt about fasting and wanted to ask us about it more. With her questions, came questions of my own, so I decided to fast yesterday and I ended up studying about it from the Scriptures in the bible dictionary about fasting. The bible dictionary had said that the Book of Mormon gave great insights to fasting and it listed several scriptures, so I was looking them up with the questions "why food?" " and "What are the reasons for fasting?" I wrote in my study journal "Why is it that when we need help or desire something of God, abstaining from food, coupled with prayers helps us?" I really like studying by topic about these things. Anyways, some things that  learned for the reasons for fasting are (Bear with me):

Alma 5:46

To gain a testimony

Alma 6:6

For those who know not God

Alma 10:7

For the sins of the people

Alma 17:3  

To gain the Spirit of Prophecy and Revelation

Alma 17:9

To be and instrument in God's hands and to bring the Spirit

Alma 28:6

 Sorrow

Alma 30:2 

Mourning

Alma 45:1 

Thanksgiving

Hel. 3:35 

To receive humility, Faith, Joy, Consolation, Purification and Sanctification

Hel. 9:10

Mourning in "tradition" 

3 Nephi 27:1

To gain Knowledge and receive answers to questions

4 Nephi 1:12

To be obedient

Moroni 6:5

Because it is what we do when we gather together

D&C 59: 13 

To align our will to God's, to have a fullness of joy, to Rejoice, to have a foretaste of how God does keep his promises.

D&C 88:76

Because it is a commandment

I think the ones that I really learned the most from where Hel 3:35 and D&C 59: 14-20. It made sense to me that it is just a little taste of how when we sacrifice in just a small way, the Lord does bless us. It gives us the ability and assurance that when more is asked of us, we are willing to sacrifice more because we know that the Lord keeps His promises.

I've also been studying Preach My Gospel really fast this week. I've been trying to read it all the way through the last two weeks of the transfer again, and every time I read it,  I "get it" just a little more. I particularly loved Chapter five this week about the Book of Mormon. We've had several good lessons, and I feel like I've done a little better emphasizing that the Book of Mormon is the key, if we know it is true, that we know it's all true. Everything falls or stands with the Book of Mormon.   All questions of things that are taught in the church can be resolved by knowing if the Book of Mormon was really inspired and really translated by God's power. It all comes back to it. 

I have enjoyed so much coming to understand the doctrine and teachings of Christ on my Mission. It will be a pursuit the rest of my life to always be a student of the scriptures.

I love y'all much. Have a good week!

Love, Hermana Montgomery