Why is is that we Celebrate the New Year??

I would rotate my shoes but the first pair is already destroyed. The quality of the shoes just isn't very good. The tops of the shoes scrape off and the soles come off easily (before the glue). They should last a couple more months and then I'll buy some nice ones. Marzipan is a very nice little kitten. The angle did kind of make it look like I was going to crush it. But I really wasn't! Everyone is sick right now. We only had around half our ward yesterday because a lot of the families got knocked out by some sort of Cedar Fever or some other sickness with a tree in it. No I didn't find it too hard to refocus after our Christmas call. I think with e-mail and stuff it makes it a lot easier to not become unfocused after a call. The girlfriend thing is a different matter. I'd say in over 90% of cases, one shouldn't have a girlfriend while on a mission. Kind of limits the number of letters you get from different people, right? :) But it can be distracting for a lot of missionaries. Not all. But most

For the real message now. Why is it that we celebrate the New Year? I venture to suppose that it is because it's the pinnacle of both wisdom and hope. One may look back at the past year with a complete view at all of the things they have accomplished, learned, and not achieved. Yet at the same time, the New Year offers so much hope. It's the perfect time to look at the past year's successes and then make PLANS on how you can build on it in the coming year. Too often we make New Years Goals or Resolutions without make plans. A goal without a plan is almost guaranteed to be forgotten by February. Make plans on how you can better yourself this coming year. Take something you did well last year and build upon it. Say you read the scriptures once a week this past year. That's a good start! Don't jump into despair because of the other 6 days. Build upon the positive. Make a goal to read the scriptures every day and then make some plans. For example, I will set my alarm 15 minutes earlier and use that time to read the scriptures and start my day off right. I will keep myself accountable by telling everyone about my goal so that they may help me succeed. Plans are the key to success! Make plans to be better missionaries! Beware of the idea that "All is well in Zion." The Lord's work never stops. Not after Sunday, not after your mission, and not after this mortal life. Esfuércese a hacer todo posible! We are the laborers in the allegory of the vineyard in Jacob. Have a very Happy New Years and please be safe/smart.

Les quiero,

Elder Montgomery

Watching Over the Very Flock that Represented their King

My birthday was quite excellent! I have so many goodies right now that I'm dying! It's all so tasty but so fattening! We're making a New Years Resolution to eat a lot better and work out better. I will be calling. Our mission hasn't been approved yet to use Skype or iPads so that probably won't happen until September. Unless, of course, you're out of the country on Mother's Day. We had Christmas conference this past week and it was so awesome! I was able to see Elder G and Elder J and Elder G and Elder L and all those cool guys! It was a great time! 

President Slaughter spent a couple hours just teaching us about some of the events surrounding Christ's birth, including a lot about angels. One thing that really stuck out to me was the background surrounding the shepherds. Luke 2:8 says "And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night." How interesting that there were many shepherds tending to just one flock! The meaning behind this has been proposed to us by modern day leaders, that this very flock was the one in which the sacrificial lambs were being raised. That is why there was more than one shepherd tending to the flock. The lambs of the flock were the one that were going to be used in the temple ceremony as a representation of the Lamb of God. How appropriate that the angel (not an angel, but THE angel probably inferring that it is Gabriel) appeared to the shepherds watching over the very flock that represented their king! No one understood better than them what the birth of the Savior represented! May we all grow to have that understanding and appreciation, especially during this Christmas season! 
Merry Christmas y Feliz Navidad!

Love,

Elder Montgomery

Birthday Week should be Pretty Awesome!

Utah smoked BYU?? That is most excellent news indeed! I'll make sure to let every BYU fan know about it. For real? Rand Rowland is a walk on player at Georgia Tech? Good for him. That's pretty cool. And that's awesome about Eric playing for Creighton. That's an amazing experience to be able to learn from such a great player and coach. I'm glad that G is doing better. That's so unreal that that happened.
That's awesome that you got to be with Elder B and his family! Wichita isn't too bad, I guess. He'll probably be full car for his mission. It's going well with Elder F. I'm guessing that you've talked to his mom a good bit from all of the questions. No we haven't had anymore accidents. I do not think that I'll be able to Skype but I'll ask President in interviews this week. 
It's been pretty slow lately. Most of our appointments have fallen through or something crazy will happen. We should have a lot more to talk about by next week. We are not trialing yet. The rumor is that we won't be getting them until September :/ But I'm sure we'll all get along until then. I did get everything I think. It was pretty stuffed. It's okay about the Christmas tree. Someone in the ward already gave us one. It's okay I really don't need much. Receiving letters is just as good as a present. It is a present! 
Birthday week should be pretty awesome! We're going on exchanges on my birthday and we're eating dinner with a basketball obsessed family. It should be good. And we went on exchanges this past week and I was with Elder B who is our new zone leader. If the name sounds familiar, it's because he was in the district with me over in Mission Creek. We sang in the ward choir yesterday for the Christmas program. It was good and fun! It wasn't Centerville and wasn't the same without Sister Regan directing us, but it was still a great experience! We actually went and saw Handel's Messiah 2 weeks ago. I thought Sister Regan would like to know that. One of the sisters in the stake puts it on every year and it is top notch. Pretty much everyone is trained and has been in some sort of production. There are lots of teachers and there was one who was in Vocal Point for 3 years. It was super awesome! It'll be a nice warm week so no jacket! That's pretty good news. You should hopefully get a picture on my birthday. I'll see what can be arranged. 
I have started reading the Christmas letters. I just read the dime one last night and I have the dime in my pocket right now. 

I've changed my approach to reading the Book of Mormon this transfer. I'm soaking it in verse by verse and learning different, almost random things from each verse. I'm still in chapter 2 of 1 Nephi. I usually only get through around 3 verses. In 1 Nephi 1:20, Nephi says, "But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender ^cmercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of ^ddeliverance." From this simple half verse, we learn that Nephi already knows what he is going to write. These events that he is recounting have already occurred and he's taking the important things to show unto us, the people of the last days. He tells us that he is writing for us and our day. Everything he writes has thought and effort put into it. It's up to us to find out what it is. For one thing, he prefaces the rest of his writings by saying he will show us the tender mercies of the Lord. This will be his focus for the rest of 1 Nephi. We learn how the Lord will always deliver the righteous. We must constantly be on the lookout for examples of this and then learn from them. I testify that Nephi was a prophet here on the American continent and that his account is for us in these last days. We can learn many things from this great prophet including how to trust the Lord even in the darkest of times and severest of trials. 

Love,

Elder Montgomery

The Pioneers were not Simple Minded Followers who gave their Lives for Naught.

Hmmmm I don't know too much about all this "dating" stuff. There seems to be a lot more of it going on since I left. Wow they really beat Towns?!? Is that a reflection of us or of Towns? I had a feeling that with the past couple years that Coach Pete might be leaving. At least it wasn't to a dastardly SEC school like UGA! :) Ha-Ha!
That's awesome about Zach and BYU-HI! You really do have to start all of the mission stuff pronto. That would be awesome if Elder H. Weiler went there as well.
I'm not getting lots of packages and gifts. Yet. I'm still holding out hope. Tis the season..That'll be a good time with Elder B and his family.  The ward is doing well. It's definitely the loudest ward I've ever been in. Soooo many screaming babies it's crazy. It's hard to concentrate.. (mom insert, "no worries son, you aren't the only one".) 
The holidays keep us busy with meetings and other stuff but it's a lot harder to meet with people. I did indeed have to use the cold weather clothes this past week. It was literally below freezing. The coat and gloves did wonders! No more accidents at all. Some close calls but no accidents. :) 

Something interesting I read recently by President Benson was about the timeline of the Restoration and the Book of Mormon. The first thing that happened was the First Vision and in it, God revealed to Joseph Smith the nature of the Godhead and also the important work he had to do. But the very next grand event was the translation of the Book of Mormon. Before the priesthood was restored, before the Church was organized, before temples, the Book of Mormon was translated and published. Does this not reveal to us the importance that God places on the Book of Mormon? Should we not also regard this book in the same light? The Book of Mormon is the keystone to our religion. Those who escudrinar the Book of Mormon and then pray with real intent will come to know of its divine origins. The pioneers were not simple minded followers who gave their lives for naught. Yet if we continue to set the Book of Mormon aside, we will trample the value of these honorable men and women. I give my testimony that the Book of Mormon is true. Put my name to it and my very soul. To quote Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, "I want it absolutely clear when I stand before the judgment bar of God that I declared to the world, in the most straightforward language I could summon, that the Book of Mormon is true." No tengo ninguna duda. En el nombre de Jesus Cristo, Amen.

Con amor,

Elder Montgomery 

The Light of the Sun, Moon, and Stars, Come Directly from Christ

My companion's name is Elder F. He is from Kaysville, Utah. He has been out close to 14 months. He is about 5'10" ish or so? We get along well. I do miss Elder J. He went over to Randolph to be the East ZL. I'm not sore any more from the bike crash but I still have a couple of bruises.

Thank you very much for the package. As luck would have it, it's been too warm to use anything since I got it. I'm sure I'll put it all to good use once January and February rolls around. The gloves do fit so no worries there. We do have the Christmas scent in and it's a welcome relief. Our apartment usually would smell like weed so Christmas is a welcome smell. No word yet on calls or skyping yet. We can pretty much call anytime of the day so I'll let you know the Monday before Christmas what time I'll be calling. 

Oh goodness gracious Ben is singing @ Candlelight? They've created a monster! What do I need for Christmas? I honestly don't really need anything. I can always eat treats. I guess I'll try to think of something I could use but right now I don't know. 

So as we all know, it was transfer meeting this past week. What people don't know though, is that I had to go to the pulpit and do a Book of Mormon share in front of all the missionaries in San Antonio. It was probably about 45 seconds and I talked about Thanksgiving. I was so nervous. Craziness! Thanksgiving was fun! I didn't remember to have anyone take and send a picture but I'll try and do that sometime this week. 

I'm teaching seminary tomorrow. Originally, Elder J was going to teach but he left so now I have to teach about his training. So this stuff is not an Elder Montgomery original. The question came to Elder J's mind about Abinadi. What makes it so that Abinadi glows/shines? There are a few other examples where this happens including Moses, Nephi and Lehi the sons of Helaman, and of course, Christ. We read in Doctrine and Covenants 88 that all light and power, including the light of the sun, moon, and stars, come directly from Christ and his acts. Christ even declares that he is "the light of the world." All light in the entire universe comes directly because of Christ. One other thing we know is that every person is born with the light of Christ (Moroni 7:18). Everyone is inherently light at birth. So it is established that any light, whether the sun or a human, comes directly from God. What then determines how much light is in a person and gives the appearance of shining? Luke 11:34 gives us the answer to this. "The light of the body is the eye: therefore, when thine eye is single (to the glory of God), thy whole body also is full of light." The old adage "The eye is the window to the soul" is the absolute truth. Lift up thine eyes to the glory of God and do the things which he has asked us. When keeping the commandments, one is glorifying God and also submitting themselves to him. Their eyes look up and have not cast down their gaze to darkness. Continue to look up to God and keep his commandments.

This light is not something made up. People can physically tell the difference of somebody who has the light of Christ radiating from within themselves and those that don't. I share an example Elder J and I had a few weeks ago. We were knocking doors when this one guy opened the door. Before anyone could say anything, we both knew that he was a member keeping the commandments. There was a certain light in him that we were able to discern. People see this light in us. Maybe they don't understand it but they certainly recognize something different. Do not be ashamed of it. It is the light of Christ burning within! Have a good start to December!

Love,

Elder Montgomery

10 feet isn't enough room and BOOOM!!!

Warning! Before you embark on reading this, you must promise not to cry, call President Slaughter, get worried, or doing anything else crazy. 

No I actually didn't ruin any pants or shirts thankfully. It wasn't too bad of a crash. That's good Katie is doing well. Hopefully she'll start enjoying it more. She can be pretty good. 

Time for transfer news! Dum dum dum. I will be..... staying another transfer here in Timber Ridge. Elder J will be

 leaving and going Zone Leader, just like I called. Hahaha that's funny about Elder H. Elder T sounds like a pretty funny guy.  We have transfers on Thanksgiving and them I'm sure I'll gain 20 lbs from eating so much. It's pretty much just party hopping when you're a missionary during the holidays. I'll see if they can take a picture. That's awesome about the U! They're going to be really good in a couple of years for sure. Packages are left in the apartment office and they have to be signed out. Warm clothing includes gloves, beanies, ear warmers, heavy duty jacket, scarfs, etc. Any of the above would be great since I'll probably be on bike for another 3 months during the winter. 

Wait hold up!  Madeline can't go on dates until I'm back. Elder J was telling me about how much his sister has changed since he left and it's crazy. It's not allowed! 

Okay time for the craziness.  So Tuesday night we were biking down the main road to get to baptismal interview that Elder J had to do. It's pretty smooth sailing like usual until we hit a little traffic. The traffic was sitting at a red light and we were just going down the bike line to get to the light. A car starts to pull out of a restaurant to merge into the lane right as Elder J goes by but it stops and Elder J avoids it. I'm probably about 30 feet behind Elder J at this point and I'm thinking to myself that was a close one. About 10 feet away from the car, it starts pulling out again even after it almost hit Elder J and I was right behind him. I slam the brakes on as hard as I can and try to maneuver out of the way but 10 feet isn't enough room and BOOOM!!! I hit his front hood and fly over the corner of his hood. So yes, I can now say that I've been hit by a car. It was as low impact as it can get but I can nevertheless say that I've been hit. The moral of the story is that when we see obstacles coming up, we shouldn't just assume that we'll be able to swerve around them and dodge them in traffic. We should be cautious and rely on the Lord to help us get through them. Obstacles are very dangerous. Thankfully, I only came out with two bruised knees, a sore shoulder and triceps, and a decently scraped up elbow. My bike's chain came off but it's fixed and there was hardly a scratch on the car. So it's been a pretty good week besides the freezing and the rain. Being on the bike in this weather is no fun at all but we did a good amount of teaching. Stay safe in Georgia.

Love,

Elder Montgomery

I cut it too sharp and BOOM!

I had a good week like always. We have mission conference with Elder Golden tomorrow. He's the General Authority from South Africa.  We ate dinner last night at the B's and he served Spanish speaking in Boston and guess who his mission president was? Dale Murphy of course! That's definitely interesting about Zach's ACL being split into two. Crazy how that kind of stuff in the bodyworks. He had visitors all weekend? I could hardly get any visitors for getting my wisdom teeth out. I guess I'm just not cool enough like him. That's good that Katie's achilles is getting better. At least someone was playing in Meet the Lions to keep the tradition alive. Sounds like Katie's team is stacked.  Following in the footsteps of her other big brother. McDermott, my boy! What a stud! And that's awesome about Jabari. I hope he's able to get some good missionary opportunities out of it. . Well I am the Golden Child after all! Usually! Sometimes! Occasionally! On a good day, at least. 

I thought you'd be interested to hear that I had my first crash on Monday. We were in a hurry to an appointment about 8 o clock and we were going down a huge hill and had to turn right onto a street. I got a little cocky and barely touched the brakes. When I turned the corner, I cut it too sharp and BOOM! My bike and I started tumbling and flipping. Of course, knowing my athletic prowess, I landed on my feet. That part isn't even a joke. You can do some crazy things when adrenaline is going like that. Luckily, I only had a couple of scrapes, nothing bad at all. I was so mad, though that I took off my helmet and threw it on the ground. I was convinced that I was going to make it the whole transfer without a crash.We always have to remember to stay humble or else we'll crash and fall. We have trials to humble us and not get cocky.It was pretty funny. I also think you'd like to know that my bike seat is as high as it goes right now. It's a miracle worker! Keep biking in Georgia or I'll come back and be able to get up Everest faster than you! (dad)

Love,

Elder Montgomery

Another Bud in the MTC.. "Dan the Man"

Elder Walton (Columbus, Georgia) and Elder Montgomery.

Pic taken in the MTC in June 2013

I traced myself back to Adam and Eve three times

Oh no I'm not sure I can bear missing these games. Make sure you record all Jabari Parker, Doug McDermott, and Utah games. I already know the first things I'm going to do when I get home (besides sleep for 72 hours). Well maybe Katie won't be the runt after all. I guess that shows what we all know. Are the Elders on a bike or in a car?

Great photoshop!!

Oh yeah I definitely wouldn't be hiking in church clothes. Well I do bike in them so I guess it's not too much of a stretch. We're all healthy. Elder J hasn't been sick a day of his mission yet or at least not sick enough to go out and work. That's cool about Family Search with Grandma! When I was in the MTC, I traced myself back to Adam and Eve three times.  We will probably be calling for Christmas. Transfers are actually on Thanksgiving. I will probably still be here. That definitely would be fun with Uncle Ray. Right now we're coming up with an outline for a family mission plan. We've come with about 25 different ways to be a missionary and we're going to have members set a date by when they are going to do them. One of them is To Watch the Best Two Years with your friends and explain the missionaries. There's some really creative stuff we came up with; well at least as creative as I could think. Members really are the key to success. Even if the friends aren't in the area, some missionaries will be teaching them. It becometh every man that's been warned to warn his neighbor. 

Love,

Elder Montgomery

We were Amen-ing, Hallelujah-ing, Dancing in our Chairs

I am definitely not fluent at all. Not even close. I can communicate and have a conversation but I still have to do a lot of translating in my brain. 

Haha Smoothie King gift cards for trick or treat are the jackpot! Ms. Terri is so smart.

No thinking about it! I am eating way more healthy now. I can count on one hand how many times I had fruits or vegetables in my last area. Now I eat them everyday. The soreness doesn't ever go away but I'm a lot more used to it. I'll probably be in this ward a while. This is Elder J's third transfer here. He started in Mission Creek like I did. We get along really well.

The ward here is good. Our calendar is already full for the rest of the month. There are lots of Returned Missionary's in the ward. I'd say my favorite meal was pork chops and mashed potatoes. I've also had some amazing home made ice cream and snickers brownies. I assumed you had used the internet to know about HEB but now I am intrigued. Did you ask Sister U or something?

Tell Aunt Adie that I definitely would choose Creighton. Maybe Clarke? 

We had a great week! The highlight was definitely going to Gladys Knight and the Saints United Voices choir on Saturday with an investigator. We were Amen-ing, Hallelujah-ing, dancing in our chairs, the whole bit! Georgia prepared me well to Amen. We definitely need more soul in our music. It's interesting that we sing the way we do because of the traditions of our fathers. The pioneers were hardened, reserved Europeans, so of course that's how our music is sung. We need to influx some soul and energy into it!

Oh and everyone should watch The Best Two Years. It's no joke. That's actually a lot what missionary work is like. So funny! 

Stay safe this week,

Love,

Elder Montgomery

I was in the Water!

Zach's injury is not fair at all for anyone and yet, life goes on. Everyone will come out stronger because of it. When riding my bike I have my lights going like crazy whenever it gets remotely dark. 
That's really cool that you saw Hyrum! I can't believe how many of my friends are going on missions! It's so cool! The ward is probably about the same size as ours with a younger average age. There are so many little kids screaming.. The ward is pretty awesome (not as good as home) and I'm eating every night. Elder J and I are the only missionaries in the ward. We had something like 6 investigators yesterday. Oh and we had a baptism Sat. and I was in the water! She is the daughter of a less active family. She's was so excited!! It was crazy! She just couldn't stop smiling or beaming! It was such a wonderful sight! I wish I could be like that all the time! 
The most surprising thing in your package was probably all of the Halloween decorations. We might decorate our bikes for the Trunk or Treat now. I guess I won't trade the tie since Elder G isn't here anymore. Oh actually the surprise was the Poppyseed cake! I'm still eating and savoring it! Thank you so much! Stay safe and don't be too stressed.

Love,

Elder Montgomery

P day playing basketball (of course)

Yes things did indeed change. No worries about anyone. So Tuesday morning, we were cleaning out our apartment getting ready for our move that was going to be on Saturday. We were on the way to Goodwill with a bunch of stuff, when I get a call from one of the Assistants to the President. The first thing he told me was that there had been an accident. So that kind of freaked me out at first. But turns out, Elder Y, who came in with me, did something to his knee last Pday playing basketball (of course) and couldn't ride his bike. Which is kind of a problem because this is an all bike area. So I was transferred during Transfers to the Timber Ridge ward with Elder J. So Elder Y and I basically switched places. Nothing too major. The apartment is definitely a lot nicer than Soapworks. It's not as nice as the one I was going to move into, but it has a washer and dryer and no mold or bugs so it's all good. The ward is pretty awesome! We get fed literally every single night. It's probably close to the size of our ward. There's also a young couple from Kennesaw and Douglasville and they're awesome! They both work at USAA. Actually, a ton of the members work at USAA so I have a hookup if I need it. The biking is going pretty well. Thank goodness it's been perfect weather or else I may have died. The bike seat is not comfortable at all and Elder J has been in a full bike area going on his 6th transfer.Elder J is going to Utah and he will never play for BYU. My quads are constantly sore now. We still study Spanish every day and I will continue to do so for the rest of my mission. I have a normal bed now so I'm sleeping on the bed. We've had some pretty good lessons lately. It was weird teaching in English but I think I'm getting the hang of it. We had something like 6 investigators at church yesterday. It was awesome! We're teaching a lot of younger people. It's so awesome to see people at church! I think that covers all the whole situation this week but it seems you know more about what's going on than me so it's all good.

Love,

Elder Montgomery

Dad's letter

We don't actually have a car... So that's kind of sad. I know if it's on DVD then I can listen to it in the apartment but I don't know if that'll carry over to any car I would receive in the future. Well I think the goals may have only been like 9'10" so that might have helped me. It is barely dunking, though. Once I'm over my constant biking soreness, I'll start working out with Elder J and get ripped to shreds! He eats so healthy. Like he buys and eats broccoli and peppers. It's awesome! The Book of Mormon reading is going great so far. I started over again this transfer and I'm studying Christ like attributes. It's amazing what you can learn when you search for something. Time is starting to go by fast now. It's so great! The days are long but the weeks are short. Haha maybe someday Ben will have hands like glue like me! 

Tell everyone I'm doing well and if they miss me then they should get baptised! :) Sounds like a good plan to me. 

Remember that we all must go through the refiner's fire!

Love,

Elder Montgomery

Mountain of the Lord

Movie in which Elder Montgomery refers to in his latest letter.

Good Afternoon Georgia

Good afternoon Georgia,

The week has been interesting and wonderful indeed. First up, yesterday was transfer calls. Drumroll please...
And Elder G will be staying! And as for me... I will also be staying! 3 transfers together! Oh but we will be moving this week on Friday because our apartment is gross so yayayaya! Woo! I'm glad to hear that the surgery went well. I'm sorry that Duncan has to wait a little while but it'll all work out in the end. I'm sorry Zach hurt his knee but the only way we can be completely safe is if we stay at home in bubble wrap. We all have challenges so we can grow. I have no idea about Christmas but it will probably be a phone call. That's what they did for Mother's Day at least. There are lots of cool families but we don't really hang out at their homes. That is what we call "camping." But there are a lot of awesome families! R's baptism will not happen anytime soon because he has sports, school, and he just picked up a job. We haven't been able to meet with him. Saturday was Elder Gonzalez's birthday and it was so awesome! We got like 3 cakes and pies and he got a lot of presents! It was great! We've watched a lot of church videos lately and we watched "Mountain of the Lord." There is a lot of great doctrine in there! One thing that really stuck out to us was the ordinances done in the temple for dead. Many people think that it is kind of crazy, but in reality most Christians have already accepted the doctrine of proxy work. Any of those that accept Christ's atonement and suffering for our sins, must also accept the idea of proxy work for those who are dead and cannot perform their own ordinances. We have all suffered spiritual death and have left the presence of God. The only one who did not suffer spiritual death and was in turn still living with God, was Christ. Christ, the living, did the work that we could not do. And so it is the same for us when we do the work for the physically dead. Proxy work has been laid since the foundation of the world! I encourage everyone to watch the movie! It's great!

Love,
Elder Montgomery

Letter to Dad..

 hey, I can finally do a reverse dunk now. My timing was just off before. 360 on deck!. That's pretty cool about Duncan going over to help! I hope that he continues to do well! And that's hilarious about him and Peeps. They're made for each other! That sounds really good about M. And it also sounds really good that you're having FHE! Just remember that the sun isn't magically over us mid sky, but slowly rises little by little from the dark. It is the same with our knowledge. Line upon line, precept on precept. I hope school and work is going well.

 

Love,

Elder Montgomery

Message Elder Montgomery Referred To.

Feels like Fall and it's Tremendous

Conference was great! I can't wait for the Ensign to come out so that I can study it! I enjoyed all the talks but especially Elder Christofferson's, Elder Holland's, President Eyring's, President Uchtdorf's, Elder Nelson's, Elder Bednar's, Elder Anderson's, and well the rest of them. Elder Oak's was great! He pretty much set everyone straight on where the Church stands.
Cannon, Cannon, Cannon. Too smart for his own good! 
Elder T sounds like he's great! Just what the area ordered! One day, one day...
That's crazy about the shattered glass! Miracle nothing worse happened. 
Anything could happen with transfers. We have no idea. We find out Sunday. 
We didn't get rain but it actually feels like Fall now and it's tremendous. 
Our branch is just like a normal ward. We still occasionally go to sketchy areas. Only our district has the sketchy area. The rest of the stake is pretty much on the north side. Sisters go to the rest of the stake. I've driven a lot more and I know the area pretty well. We email President Slaughter every week.
I also really enjoyed Elder Christofferson's talk about the importance of women. I think everyone should watch his talk. Nothing too interesting has happened to us. Actually, we did play basketball. I dunked (barely) on a kid. That was fun.

Love,

Elder Montgomery

Letter to his Dad.

 I may have been a little frustrated last week but it's okay we're all good in the San Antonio hood. Conference was tremendous! I seriously regret so many of the things I did these past 18 years... Like not cherish conference! It's just what Jacob the brother of Nephi called it: Healing for the wounded soul! I've never felt so uplifted! Everything was great! President Uchtdorf and President Eyring and every one else were great! I really enjoyed Sunday morning session. President Monson was being honest when he said everything was perfect. The spirit was so prevalent! I missed the taco tailgating and Smoothing King. Hey there's no rules about not being able to take Ben so why not? That's good that Zach is playing well. I'm sure he will have a great season! I've ridden my bike a couple times for exercise. I've ridden it early in the morning downtown. 

Love,

Elder Montgomery

Q & A

Yes Madeline had told me about the surgery. That is quite sad indeed. And great that you got the job and you get to work with Dr. Dixon! That's awesome! I guess Lakeview has a future in volleyball! Does she really hit harder than anyone else are is that just the mom in you saying that. I did indeed get the package! Thank you very much! We definitely needed some food. We were really surprised to see the package put if it was UPS I guess they wouldn't leave it at the Post Office. Hopefully Dad passes the test today. If he doesn't, we can only remember that God's ways are higher than our ways. Oww a broken ankle is never fun but I'm super glad that J. is doing better in school! He always could do it! Wow I can't believe Katie is leaving already. I'm pretty sure that she just got her mission call. Then again, so did I. I can't wait to hear where Duncan is going! 

Have you gotten letters from others besides family? Yes, I get letters (well mostly emails) from other people besides family. I guess people do love me. 

How is R progressing? R currently does school and then works every single day so we haven't been able to meet with him. At all. 

Are most people bilingual in San Antonio? I wouldn't say most people. A lot of the Hispanics don't even speak Spanish. It can be a little frustrating. 

Be on the lookout for Elder S . His mom and I have become fast friends. He is apparently bigger than you!! I will be on the lookout but I don't ever see Elders outside my zone.

Are the little kids at church excited to see the missionaries? Esp. the grande gringo? I wouldn't say they're super excited to see us. I think we're just normal to them.

Are you getting authentic Mexican food, now that you are in the Spanish branch? I do get some authentic Mexican food. 

Do you and Elder G speak Spanish when you are in the apartment? We do not speak Spanish in the apartment. We should but when we try, it's pretty much silent. We're working on it, though. 

Any fun p-days planned, i.e. visiting the Alamo etc.? Hmm we go by the Alamo all the time. It's really not that fun. It's a lot smaller than I thought it would be. I don't think we really ever plan our P days.

 It was fast Sunday for us because of General Conference. Our week stays pretty tame. Nothing too crazy happens to us. We're really just laying the groundwork right now with the members. We'll get there eventually but right now we're not looking at a lot of baptisms. All we can do is have faith! We will continue to work hard! It's crazy that the transfer is already almost over!

Love,

Elder Montgomery

My favorite thing about Texas... I guess that it's so similar to home

Awesome about the job interview! I really hope that you get it! That would be so great! Que suave! It's cooled down here the past couple days, too and it feels flat out wonderful! I hope it stays this way but who knows in Texas? Sounds like the JV team is getting better! Good to hear Madeline is winning some and playing well. Good to hear about Katie, too! Was it my imagination or was she spiking a ball? Could've just been the angle but it looked cool! Sam Allen is awesome and I'm glad Zach has the chance to work with him! I wish that I would've been able to! Haha of course Ben fumbled the ball! Doesn't he still have a cast? 
Glad to hear about the Bravos! Are they projecting to win the championship? That's a miracle about Cousin Damond. I'm glad to hear that all is well. 
Most memorable dinner was a missionary panel potluck thingy. The food wasn't great, but afterwards, Elder G and I and a couple return missionaries answered some of the youth's questions about missionary work. It was in Spanish so I couldn't really get out exactly what I wanted, but it went well enough! We go to Church On Sunday and then go about like a regular day. The new missionaries always come in on transfers. I understand the gist of what they're saying but I couldn't translate them. My favorite thing about Texas... I guess that it's so similar to home. We haven't really met any rude people yet. Of  course, we mostly work with members so they usually aren't too rude. I've driven once and I haven't seen any Atlanta traffic yet but we're not usually on the interstate. We have a microwave, no crockpot.
We currently have one young man set for a baptism on Oct. 19th. His name is R, is 17, and plays a bunch of different sports. He's awesome! He was working with the 1st Ward Elders and we finally met him this week. We taught the Restoration and it was awesome! We've talked a lot about the Fall and the Atonement of Christ this week and the necessity of both. Without the Fall of Adam, we couldn't be here. We would be in a state of ignorance. It's basically like if the teacher handed us a multiple choice test, except there was only one bubble for each answer that could be filled in. What would that show the teacher? Only that we could bubble a circle. We couldn't show to our Teacher that we had gained knowledge and experience and are worthy to live with him again. That brings us to the Atonement. It's like if my sisters were in a fight with a bully (representing sin) and I stepped in to destroy the fight (overcoming both spiritual and physical death). I wouldn't ask my sisters for a repayment of money or anything. Rather, I would merely ask that they do as you and Father teach them because you know the way. Would they be indebted to me because of saving their lives? Technically, yes. But I would never put it like that. The best repayment that I could have is that they honor their father and mother and stay strong in the Gospel. It's just like that with us and Christ. He's done the impossible for us and all he asks us to do is to listen to the Father, to follow his commandments so that we can live with him again. I testify that this is the work of God, and just like Daniel saw in the King's dream, this is the stone of Christ that cannot and will not be stopped by the world! Stay safe in Georgia.

Les amo,

Elder Montgomery

Steel Cut Oatmeal

The first full week was good in the Branch. It's still super slow because we're basically just going around meeting all the members and the less actives but it's starting to pick up. They have been feeding us and we're being fed almost every day this week. Nothing strange. 
I did get the package and it came just in the nick of time because of the gift cards. I was starting to run low on funds on the card so they're awesome! Thank you so much! My favorite tie was the red paisley! Elder G is starting to collect paisleys so I traded it to him for an awesome wool Scottish tie. I have not gotten the letter yet but I probably will tonight. 
That is good that you have a job interview. I was actually thinking this morning about how what you (referring to him mom a pediatric ER nurse) do can jade you. What happened was we helped at a mobile local food drive this morning at a church and I couldn't help thinking a little bit about the people that go into the ER. Everyone was super nice and the Pastor is from Nigeria and super cool. We went to help because the 1st ward Elders had knocked into a guy who went to the church and asked us to help. He was a WR/DB in the NFL back in like the 70's and he's super cool. 
Groceries consist of... instant oatmeal, eggs, frozen foods, cheese, and lots of juice. Elder G is a huge fan of the Steel Cut oatmeal. He had never had it before. I'm not sick and hopefully won't ever be. I can't wait for Duncan's call! I hope he goes somewhere where everyone is short. So maybe here. People call me grande but they haven't seen Duncan! 
Were most of the people at church investigators? That would be super awesome! Elder T sounds awesome! I actually had to give a talk in Sacrament meeting yesterday. They called us Sat. night and told us to talk about missionary work. Good thing that we think about that 24/7. I spoke for probably about 12 minutes and a lot of people said my Spanish was pretty good. I guess a gift of the Spirit really is the gift of tongues if they thought it was good Spanish! There were a couple things that I spoke about. One was the difference between full time missionaries and members. We have been set apart and have the authority, right, and privilege to represent Christ. But if we remember our baptismal covenant, we've all taken Christ's name upon ourselves. And if we all have Christ's name upon us, then we must do what he would do. And that would be sharing with our friends, family, and acquaintances, the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ by inviting them. We cannot force but we can invite and no friend would ever be offended at an invitation made in love. That's the way missionary work is going and what the First Presidency is really focusing on. We work mostly with members to help them be missionaries. The Lord is preparing people in my, your, and everyone else's path to receive the Gospel. Do not be ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Share when you feel prompted to share! Hurrah for Israel! 

Love,

Elder Montgomery

"El es muy grande!"

The mail actually stays at the post office and we go pick it up so no worries about it getting stolen. We don't really get to go to the temple very often. Each missionary has their own pass for once a year. So I probably won't be going for a while. That's so crazy that Bill is going to Tokyo! Two people I know are going to Tokyo now! Yes I understood pretty much everything at church. I get the gist of everything but I'm always a little fuzzy on the details. Some of the members were acquainted with me but I got a lot of "El es muy grande!" There are probably about 60 active members in the branch so we're not too far off from being a ward. We pretty much aren't ever going to knock doors in any area. It's just not effective. The First Presidency is really emphasizing every member a missionary so we do most of our work by finding through the members. We don't have any solid investigators yet. The other Elders in Mission Creek took over the whole ward. Our new area is the new entire East stake but we mainly work in the Mission Creek and 1st Wards. I am indeed cleared to drive.
Hmm Oregon is an excellent pick for Duncan. I will say that he will go to Ohio but I think the Portland mission would be sweet! Do you guys not know yet where Z is going? I thought they would've told the parents by now. 
Right now I'm doing an Atonement study while I'm reading the Book of Mormon and it's amazing the doctrine that you find when you are reading for a purpose of learning rather than just reading. One thing I realized/thought of was Christ's call that we all become as little children. As we know, little children are taken up by the grace of God and through the Atonement they are redeemed. We always think of the traits that the little children have and, yes, that is what we strive for. But the doctrine is a little deeper than that. If we have become as little children, and little children are automatically redeemed through the Atonement, then we have done our part and we are redeemed. The goal is much more deeper than just attributes. That's just a little connecting the dots think I was revealed this week. You probably already knew it but I thought it was interesting. That's about it for the week. 
I'll see about pictures. I have to go ask Elder F for his picture uploader cord thingy.

Love,

Elder Montgomery 

First "Transfer" and he will be speaking Espanol!!

I am using a member's iPad today because everything is closed on Labor Day so I can't write very much. That's awesome that Coach E is interested. Make sure you get some film for him to watch. Oh yeah we have tons of people tell us that they'll be at church but they never are. You just have to hope for the best. Im sorry but i really don't have time to answer all the questions. Elder G is from West Valley City and has two siblings who are way older than him. He gets some packages. Our relationship centers a lot around sports. The Spanish elders at least will be coming from Mexico City. I will send the pictures next week but I don't really think it'd be wise to send you the apartment pictures it's pretty old. Yeah Elder L was telling me about all the lack of creativity for BSU. Is Southwick still quarterback? At least BYU lost. Make sure Ben isn't too annoying about asking to be kicker. Tell Sister G I got her package it was delicious and the photos were very much appreciated. 
I'm doing an Atonement study right now while I'm reading the Book of Mormon and its amazing! The Atonement is for everyone regardless if they accept it or not. Those who have no law given to them are taken up by the Atonement and receive glory. We drive everywhere but We don't know if I've been approved to drive yet so only Elder Gonzalez drives. We get out at noon because of an hour for language study and an hour of training. Plus it's not effective at all to be doing anything from 10-3 so we mostly plan so we can be effective and do better finding. I am not getting a new companion but I am being "transferred." We are no longer in Mission Creek but are purely assigned to the Highland Hills branch. So now we will just be doing Spanish work. President Slaughter told us to double the sacrament meeting attendance so we'll probably be here for a while. We will still have the same address and apartment. It's sad to leave all the cool members on base but we're excited for working with Spanish members. I will do my best to stay in shape but that's really not the important part right now. I'll focus on that later when I'm about to be home. That's about it or this week. 

Love, 

Elder Montgomery

Peach Cobbler

I'm not sure I believe that it's been 20 years already. That makes me old, too. It's okay I know you didn't mean that in a mean way. That's good that he scored that much! How was his defense? Haha that's pretty funny that he asked them to let him dunk. Why didn't I ever think of that? We don't really have any investigators right now and it's kind of frustrating but we're still doing a lot of work with the less actives. There's one lady from Kentucky, about 50 years old who is really awesome! She's just really funny the way she acts. She even made us a peach cobbler that was positively delicious. I'm still not very close to any of the less actives yet but I'm working on it. Make sure to keep striving in the Gospel.

 

Love,

Elder Montgomery

Youngest Companionship in the Mission and the Book of Revolutions.

That's great that Zach played so well! How is his shot looking? Hopefully Katie does do well but it shouldn't be so that she's better than certain people. Just that she's doing the best she can. Maybe Ben could start writing me in Spanish and then he could learn. That's crazy that it's already your 20th anniversary! I'm fairly certain that it was just your 10th anniversary. I really cannot just go by the mission office. It's just not something you do. We are having a big zone training Tues, though, so I'll probably get it then. We did get the package! Thank you very much! Yes hopefully no transfers! I love this area and all of the families! Yes we share groceries. We do not have a washer and dryer so we do all our laundry on early morning on P day at the apartment of the other Elders in our district. I've been fed regular food. Nothing too crazy except for mole.
 I think a lot of the military families are similar to you guys but nothing super crazy. Brother B is from Twin Falls, went to Boise St., and is in the Navy. And Sister B is an amazing baker. I've actually met quite a few people from Georgia. One of our recent converts is from Lawrenceville. He found out about the Church from his Mormon girlfriend who is in the Army and is on tour, but singing instead of fighting. He's a super cool guy. There's another family who just moved in from the Commerce ward. He grew up in Athens 1st and she in Commerce. Brother G, our ward mission leader, lived in Stockbridge for a couple years and he worked with the Young Men so I was right when I thought he looked really familiar. 
The reactivation is going. The people are nice but they just don't go to church. It's crazy. No exchanges till next transfer. We don't have once a month cookouts but there are the normal church activities like Trunk or Treat. We don't do activities as a mission mostly because we have like 250 missionaries. About 60% of us are under 6 months out, too. Elder G and I are tied for the youngest companionship in the mission right now. He just finished training and now he's training me.
One small miracle was that Elder G's shirt that had spaghetti sauce all over it suddenly wasn't stained anymore. We were in probably the most ghetto part of our area knocking and two cars pulled up and asked us if they could help us. I thought they were about to start shooting up each other. As they were pulling away, a guy in the back seat opened up the door and asked us if we had the Book of Revolutions. We told him we had the Book of Mormon and he said he could use anything in his life so we gave him one. It was pretty crazy. So nothing major really. We don't really ever knock. That's about it though.
Actually something I could use would be General Conference talks, both Spanish and English. We only have one cd right now and we're in the car a lot so it would be good to be both edified spiritually and learn Spanish at the same time.

Love, 

Elder Montgomery

Just the Right Angle

Dad,

Okay sorry I haven't responded but we email at a library and we get kicked off after an hour and we have to do missionary number stuff too. Wow sounds about right for Mr. Rick. I definitely would've said just forget about trying to get that big couch downstairs. It's amazing the kinds of things that some people can make work. I know it may have been a little bit of a stretch for how you compared it to the Gospel but I really, really like it. Each person has their own special talent or gift that will help someone make all the pieces fit. Each person has different experiences that can help them present the Gospel in a different way. That's why missionaries keep going to the same places and streets even after no success. 

I'm sure work is super busy since school starts this week but you can always put Ben and Zach to work. And Katie, too. Anything to get her mind off One Direction. I learn something about them every time she emails me. Well I'm finishing the Book of Mormon againw. My goal is to read it once every transfer so that means I'll have read it 17 times by the end of the mission. Yesterday, Brother W gave me a tiny military edition of the major works. I'm sure you've seen them. They're tiny and red and it comes with a Book of Mormon, New Testament, Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price, and Principles of the Gospel for Military. It's super cool to have a tiny Book of Mormon and New Testament in my pocket.. Try not to let the server die too many times.

Love,

Elder Montgomery

Pitbulls or Chihuahuas

 I'm down town and in the ghetto. I'd say the topography just like the Atlanta area.  I get along with my companions quite well and it's sad that Elder E is going home. They speak Spanish with me when we think about it but we forget most of the time. I've still only ridden my bike once. I only ride my bike when I'm on exchanges in the other area. 
I don't have any ward callings but we usually teach Gospel Principles and fill in for other classes. Sometimes we prepare and bless the Sacrament. I don't think anyone looks to us as counselors but just when we do contacts, people will spill their entire lives to us. It's really weird. I don't know if it's because we're in the ghetto or because we're missionaries. Either way, I've heard some crazy things. We see gang members but we never see them together and we haven't had any problems. We haven't been chased by anything yet but there are a ton of pit bulls  Like everyone either has a pit bull or a Chihuahua. 
Transfers are every six weeks so two weeks from Wed. will be transfer meeting. Everyone checks in with the district leader, who checks in with the zone leaders, who checks in with the Assistants, who check in with President. Oh I'm like a 100% sure I'll be here next transfer. Since we do less active work, we tend to stick around in the area for a while. Our ward has the base so we have most of the military families but the ones who live off base mostly live in 1st ward. Oh we get fed a good amount. Usually by the military families (We only have three active families/people in our area that aren't military). We might get fed every day this week. Hooray!
 So it's crazy that Ben broke his arm playing soccer at Church. I guess that's not his sport, then. Good to hear that Madeline is doing better. 
 So this week was pretty cool for us. We had a baptism in the ward (the other missionaries) and he's about 65. He had to be baptized twice because his leg came up the first time but the Spirit was so super strong. Then at church when he received the Holy Ghost, the Spirit was super strong. While he was standing up, he said "Praise the Lord!" It was pretty cool even if it was atypical.  There are lots of cool families in our ward, especially the military families. Just some super cool people who you would really like.

Love,
Elder Montgomery

The Catholic Family that begat Two LDS Missionaries in the Texas San Antonio Mission

Joe McNamara Jr. and Joe McNamara Sr.

By a strange sort of events, we found Elder Montgomery currently has a relative in the same mission with him.

These two kids share the same Great Great Grandparents 

Joseph Daniel McNamara and Sarah Maude Butte.

 Elder Montgomery's Great Grandfather Gordon McNamara is Joe Jr. little brother, from whom the other Elder in his mission descends from.. 

Isn't that cool??

Like Elder Montgomery's maternal grandfather says.. "Don't say anything bad about anyone, because you are usually talking to their cousin." ;)

Elder Montgomery's Maternal Grandmother's Parents. i.e. His Great Grandparents.

 Eva Bailey McNamara                                                 Gordon Thomas McNamara

The Area in Which He Lives

I got the letters. Yeah I've definitely seen some crazy things here. If anyone ever doesn't understand why they should keep the Law of Chastity, just send them here. It's ruined life after life. Drugs, alcohol, and all that stuff just holds so many people down. We don't really have any investigators because we do so much Less Active work. I don't think where I'm at really represents the Texas pride. Most the time I don't even feel like I'm in Texas. The ghetto here feels the same like the ghetto there. I wake up at 6:30 am and get ready. I usually study from 7:30-12 and then we have an hour lunch. Then we go out until 9pm and plan after that. Wash. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. We eat just whatever for meals. I usually eat oatmeal for breakfast but lunch and dinner are always toss ups. I haven't had a favorite meal here but there are some great members here, especially the military families. I think you and Dad would really like them. No thunderstorms yet. There is some store called H.E.B. but I've never heard of it. It's kind of like Costco. I haven't met any Spurs yet but the ATT center is in our district so you never know. We haven't had any problems yet with neighbors but I'm so tired I wouldn't hear them if they did. We are going to the temple when we drop off Elder E . I don't know if we'll get a new companion but I'm leaning towards yes because they gave us bunk beds and an extra desk. We haven't had any super cool things happen yet but just small miracles all around us. One lady came to church who hadn't been in forever and we took her tea and lighter from her. We'll get her coffee tonight though! She's awesome. Oh here's something interesting. One of the families in our ward used to run the street like big time. Like killing people and shooting police officers. Pretty nuts. He is pretty nuts but he's making lots of progress. That's about it for now. 

Love,

Elder Montgomery

I met Elder McNamara we met  for zone meeting. We have the same great great grandparents right? We can see why his nickname is Moose!