Proactive and not just Active in the Church - June 30, 2014

Hello Family, 

It's been a long week. It's felt like having two lives in one.

Monday and Tuesday were somewhat draining since we dropped off Sister Chambers at the Church building by the Temple since she finished her mission and went home on Wednesday. Then Sister Done and I continued to get things figured out and set up for the coming days.

That night we had a lesson with Jason and Gaby. We talked about a Baptismal date, and then the law of chastity. They are really having a hard time since the can't get married until her immigration papers go through, and they're afraid to not live together because they don't know how long they have together. It was a very emotional charged lesson. Made my want to bawl my eyes out afterwards. Life can be difficult sometimes. And changing and matching our wills to God's requires sacrifice. Something Gaby said made me think a lot though. She said something along the lines of not wanting to pray to God for her papers to go through because she didn't want to "sway" God's will in a way. Basically, she felt like we were not worthy to ask God for help in our lives for ourselves. We could pray for other people, but she couldn't bring herself to ask God for something that she needed. Sister Done and I got in the car and started talking about it a lot. I know God honors those prayers. It may not always be in the way that we expected, or in the time that we want, but God does hear those prayers. And He answers them. I know that. I know it. It's caused me to reflect a lot on prayer this week in my studies.

Thursday, Sister Done was transferred to Austen, and my new companion came down from Austen. I stayed the day with Sister Clements (my companion from September) and her companions for the day while I waited. It was a weekly planning day as well, so basically I had three hours of personal study and time to fill while they were weekly planning. I didn't know what would be happening, so I didn't bring the area or member book to work on anything, luckily I did bring my Preach My Gospel. Remember when we were little kids and finally got to stay up 'til midnight on New Years Eve? We had so much time! That's what it felt like on Thursday. "First I'll study a little Preach My Gospel, then I'll take a little nap, then I'll read some Book of Mormon, and then the Ensign...ect." Yeah, not use to having that much time on my hands. It was fun to be with Sister Clements for the day again, it's been almost eight months since we were companions...weird how time flies.

My new companion is Sister Greenall from California. She's a visa waiter going to Brazil, so she speaks Portuguese. She has one Sister who's name is not only Danika, but Danika Marie. What are the chances? Hahaha I'm not even sure why I asked about her middle name...had a feeling :) Her Sister just went into the MTC and is heading to the Dallas Texas Mission. 

So about Sister Greenall. She drinks a lot of water. Like four 20oz bottles before lunch. Apparently it started with her last companions...so naturally, I've started to drink more water too because you just do things your companions do. I've had to use the bathroom so much it's not even funny. And that's after a half of a water bottle like hers. It's been helping me stay awake more, I've been nodding off quite a bit lately. You'd think I'd get better at this. Maybe it's just the heat and things. We have been walking a lot more out in the sun. I'm kind'a sore. And we both have been sleeping really hard, well, I have been. I wouldn't know about her, I'm sleeping too hard. She said that she thinks she's met her match in someone who falls asleep faster than her. I do have a talent for that I've been told.

Sister Felix who I live with is training a new missionary this transfer, Sister Winn. We were talking to her yesterday morning at breakfast, and she said that she feels like she's been taken and plopped right in the middle of Hell cause it's so hot, and all they do is walk and talk to people. Sister Greenall and I just looked at each other and smiled hahaha. Summer is here. 

I had the goal to read all of Preach My Gospel in the last two weeks of the Transfer again, and I just finished it. I really like reading it this way, it just brings it all back to the basics, the real stuff. Sharlan told me my first transfer to stop reading Jesus the Christ and to focus on Preach My Gospel and the Book of Mormon. Honestly, I was a bit frustrated by that. I felt like I knew those things. Uhhhh...I would tell any missionary to leave the missionary library at home until you hit your halfway point at least and then have your family send them to you. Or at least leave them in your suitcase and not touch them until your halfway point. Another new missionary (out two months and still in training) told me that she had read all of the Missionary Library already on her mission expect Jesus the Christ, which she was working on now. Not a good idea. I wish I would have left those things alone until I knew Preach My Gospel better. Only the ignorant would say that they know all of the things in Preach My Gospel. On that note...I'm getting on a lot of rants lately...sorry family.

So anyways...I was studying in Preach my Gospel this week, in chapter eight about planning and Key Indicators. We set goals each week as missionaries in a part of our planner that looks like this:

Wow, that was cool that I could put that in there :) to be brief I'll just explain my point, but if you want to learn more about missionary key indicators go here:

https://www.lds.org/manual/preach-my-gospel-a-guide-to-missionary-service/how-do-i-use-time-wisely?lang=eng 

So I was looking at these and figuring out how I could apply them as a member missionary. Here's what I cam up with (All these of course would be backed up by names of real people, not just doing it for numbers).

Baptism and Confirmation: The number of baptisms I will attend this week (in my ward and stake or others), either as support for the investigators getting baptized, or in taking my friends to the service to see and learn more.

Friends at Church: The number and names of friends I will invite and help come to church with me this week.

Instead of lessons with Members Present I would have

Lessons with the Missionaries: The number of lessons with names of friends I would have with Missionaries teaching, either my own friends, or going with the missionaries to teach other investigators.

Other Lessons: The number of lessons with names of friends (conversations where I would teach a restored truth, bear my testimony and leave a commitment) with people I meet or am already friends with.

Progressing friends: The number and names of friends I am helping progress to baptism, or preparing to take the lessons with the missionaries.

Referrals: The number and names of friends that I have prepared and now feel can be introduced to the missionaries.

New Friends: The number of people I would like to come in contact with this week to eventually become friends and plans for how I will become better friends with them to be able to invite them to learn about the Gospel.

Less-Active/Recent Convert Visits: The number of individuals and families with in the ward  that I will visit and plans for what I will do to help them come closer to Christ.

Some people may think this is creepy or over baring...it's only creepy if we make it creepy. It's only awkward if we make it awkward. Anyways, these are my plans as a member missionary. It's has to start with a plan. So plans all around. I not only want to be active for the rest of my life in the church, but I want to be proactive.  The principles of missionary work are the same where ever we are, they just have to be applied a little differently in our situations. 

The Gospel is so true. And it's important to know it and act accordingly.

I love y'all :)

Hermana Montgomery

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

Comes with Tan Lines, Blisters, Sweat and more Doors than Ever. Just add Faith. - June 16, 2014

Dear Family, 

We have progressing investigators! And we're teaching families! Huzzah! I think this is the first time on my mission when I haven't felt in a panic about finding people to teach. There are just little families all around us. The hardest part is, they all have a church and are very active. I've never met so many active members of other churches.  Gaby and Jason have been having a struggle getting immigration papers settled down. They've been waiting for four years to get married I found out  this week, and are waiting on pins to see how it all goes through. We taught them the word of wisdom by using lds.org and mormon.org on their iPad. It was really neat, it was like seeing the future of missionary work with iPad. Too bad that's so far away. Be grateful all you missionaries coming out, I've cried over this for months. Okay, maybe not cried, but mourned exceedingly. 

We had a special training this week by President Slaughter about "Faith in Finding." Last August he gave us a training and a packet that highlighted points from Preach My Gospel called "Finding By Faith." When he introduced his training to us a few weeks back, I pondered a lot on the word choice. What was the difference between "Finding by Faith" and "Faith in Finding"? I came to the conclusion a few weeks later that it was because there was a lack of faith in the things that we were doing. We were doing what we were told to do, but we didn't understand the why or the principles behind it. One of our Assistants to the President, Elder Piene talked to President Slaughter first about this in a meeting which led to the training to refocus us. President Slaughter has given us parts of Preach My Gospel to study and also a faith study sheet to prepare. I've been learning a lot from it as I've been studying. I've also been reading the Book of Mormon looking for examples or scriptures of faith. I think what has stuck out to me the most has been what was expressed in Ether 12:20-21

"And after the brother of Jared had beheld the finger of the Lord, because of the promise which the brother of Jared had obtained by faith, the Lord could not withhold anything from his sight; wherefore he showed him all things, for he could no longer be kept without the veil."

The Lord cannot lie to us. As we are faithful, and keep His commandments, we can be shown all things. If, our faith is consistent.

I've been thinking about that a lot. Actually. I feel like my faith in His promises fluctuates, but it shouldn't. It should be firm.

One of the things President Slaughter talked about was the story about how there is a man hanging from a tree branch off a cliff. He prays for help from the Lord and the Lord asks him "do you believe in me?" he replies "yes Lord, I do!" He is then asked, "do you believe a wind can come and blow you  back up the cliff?" "Yes,  I do believe that!" "Then let go." the lord tells him. President Slaughter said it's a different kind of faith to let go of the branch rather than just saying it, which it is. But then President Slaughter said "So what if you let go of the branch and you fall down to the ground and break both legs?" Do you get mad at God? Does your faith fade? Do you stop believing? Or do you get up and walk-or crawl-away and the next time you are hanging from a branch you trust  the Lord enough to let go a second time? Is this story making sense? I'm probably telling it really bad. So anyways, the point is: do we have the kind of faith to continue to have faith and not waver, even when things don't turn out how we thought they were "promised to"? 

March 4th last year, Danika wrote to us:
"Our faith cannot be conditional on a positive outcome.  We must like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego say "our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.  But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." (Daniel 3:17-18).  Our faith must be in knowing that God is able to save us, but whether He chooses to or not is up to Him.  It is about being ready to accept gracefully and submissively whatever it is He has in store for us.  Don't let your faith shrink!"

This letter from Danika has been something that has influenced my mission a lot. "Our faith cannot be conditional on a positive outcome." 

The Gospel just makes sense doesn't it? It feels right, and it makes sense.

Last night, after having dinner with one of our ward missionaries and talking about ward mission plan stuff and things we could do, Sister Chambers noted to me in the car that it felt a little like some ideas of missionary efforts were taking missionaries out of the picture, if that makes any sense. So many areas I've served in, it almost feels like they don't feel missionaries are necessary. Just be a good examples to friends, invite them to activities, be involved in the community, etc but when it comes down to it, inviting them to meet with the missionaries is too hard or scary or intimidating. I was reminded several times this week that nothing happens until there is contact with the missionaries. 

We'd been talking earlier in the day about what our plans were to help hasten the work when we are home (since this is Sister Chambers last week), and after dinner I got a bit worked up about return missionaries forgetting. I've seen so much of it on my mission, we just forget. It has been my greatest fear about being a return missionary, is that I will become complacent and forget. 

Did it not mean more than this?

I told my companions in the car last night that "so help me if in ten years I've forgotten, God had better dam me to hell." Because after everything that has happened, and everything that He has done for me, how could I forget? 

Did it not mean more than that?

There is too much to be done in these days.

I think that not only will those whom we did not share the Gospel with know what we had and didn't share, but also God will know who we knew and didn't open our mouths to. 

So on that note. Ah-hem. I'll get down from my box, but really. Did it not mean more?

Elder Holland said-speaking from the Saviors view-in his talk The First Great Commandment October 2012 "Children, did not my life and my love touch your hearts more deeply than this?...we have neighbors to bless, children to protect, the poor to lift up, and the truth to defend. We have wrongs to make right, truths to share, and good to do. In short, we have a life of devoted discipleship to give in demonstrating our love of the Lord. We can’t quit and we can’t go back. After an encounter with the living Son of the living God, nothing is ever again to be as it was before."

I love the Gospel, it has changed everything. Serving a mission has changed everything. I love y'all :)

Hermana Cheyenne Montgomery