Going Back to Senior Companion..

Well that is quite excellent to hear, I must say!!! Impressive, indeed. Just have to get the training, I guess. 
No worries, my stuff is pretty much already packed. The mission office is closed on Saturdays but, of course, Mission Creek covers the Alamo, remember? So I'll just leave my stuff in the apartment and they'll take it up. How do you want to communicate the meeting? 
I will indeed be leaving once again. Going back to Senior Companion. Elder G is a new District Leader. Elder J told me on transfer calls to be very excited so maybe that means I'm finally going up to Austin.
Basketball camp is definitely the best. I'm sure that they will have lots of fun with Grandma. 
We had a fantastic week as usual. The P came to church and stayed for all 3 hours. They are getting married very soon. We're going to try to set them with a date tonight for their baptism. We also had the J family come to church. He's a long time LA member and she's "Catholic." Of course, they're not married either but she really enjoyed church and it's looking very promising. Her name is C. We knocked into a tremendous family this past week. Husband and wife with 4 kids, 9 years and younger. They really loved the Restoration and hopefully we'll be able to go by them tonight. 
Other than that, nothing too out of the ordinary happened this past week. I know this week will be great and I'm sure you'll know where I am before I even email next Monday.

 Have a fantastic week at work!

Love,

Elder Montgomery

Fathers are Extremely Important to God's Plan

That's okay. Maybe I'll go to Austin here pretty soon and then next year we can take a trip and visit. Well, even if I don't ever serve there, I'd like to visit it. That's great that you made it home in time for his birthday and Fathers' Day! I sent a letter so hopefully it gets there today. The Fathers' Day cookout sounds delicious as always. I wouldn't be able to visit or eat with them but I could definitely leave the packages at the mission office and they could pick them up. That would be fantastic! That's awesome that you were able to visit with Ms. Crystal! She definitely does have some of the best homemade vanilla ice cream ever! 

As far as the weight loss goes, it definitely happens after being fed every day for 6 months and then being fed once every 2 weeks. It's more that I'm just eating healthily now and not eating all day long. I eat lots of chicken, eggs, vegetables, fruits, yogurt, turkey, nuts, protein bars, fish, all the good stuff. Elder Jackson was here on Fridayand checked with him to make sure I wasn't too skinny. My shirts are baggy for sure but they should be filled out here pretty soon. I hope Madeline's face does indeed start to recover soon. That was a super cool picture of the Houston temple. Nope we were definitely still out working last night. It was pretty ineffective because nobody would let us in but we did get a free taco out of it. I'm glad that it's over and that they won. I forecast more baptisms in the future because of it :) 

That's great that Calvin was baptized!!! I don't remember a specific name but you did mention Zach helping teach someone. It seems like there are a lot of baptisms in the ward back home and Elder Boman told me that it was his most successful area. I wonder why that is. Yes I very much enjoyed the package! I was especially grateful for the white tie. I'm thinking that it's a sign that the baptisms are on the way! Well, I guess that I'll have to forgive y'all for watching the game. I was catching glimpses of it all night. Manu's dunk in the 2nd quarter caught everyone by surprise. 

We had a great Sunday yesterday! The P's came to church and really enjoyed it. They are such a fantastic family! Absolutely tremendous people! S, a 15 year old son of a less active, also came to church. He's super cool and we're hoping that as we continue to build a relationship with him and teach him and his family, that he will become active a be baptized. 

We had a great specialized training this past Thursday about Faith in Finding. We spent the first hour talking about the definition of true faith and then we focused on other aspects of finding such as prioritizing and fathers. We spent a lot of time talking about fathers and the importance they play. The Church grows as the priesthood grows. We can baptize all the women and children we want, but if there isn't an addition to the priesthood, branches cannot become wards and wards cannot be split. Also, one of the main doctrines that we teach is that families can be together forever. Often times, husbands are less spiritually sensitive than their wives or children and so they are more hesitant towards being baptized. We know that fathers lead their families by divine design and so if we move forward without them, we are going against some of the very doctrine we teach. Sister Slaughter shared with us that when she was serving in Taiwan, a 70 came and told them that they could no longer baptize a woman and her children without their husband. They had to cancel many baptisms and it was increasingly hard to find families because of the culture; however, she told us of an experience in which a few years ago, she met a missionary from Taiwan in San Francisco and he told her how much the priesthood had increased on the island. Fathers are extremely important to God's plan and as we remember that, we will be able to help many families be united for forever through the restored priesthood authority. 

Love, 

Elder Montgomery

Padre,

Balance is definitely the key. Even in the scriptures, the prophets were balanced. Alma rested in the home of Amulek for a while. We definitely need our rest. Look at you playing ball with professional athletes!!! I didn't forget, I promise. You should be getting a birthday/father's day card, soon. Things have been going fantastically! We had a great week! Elder Jackson was on exchanges with Elder Gray this past weekend and it was a lot of fun seeing him again. He is definitely one of my role models. He was a great missionary when I was with him and he's grown so much since then. No worries, I know exactly what I'm doing. I'm eating a lot like you do. I made some delicious steel cut oats in the rice cooker yesterday with some apples. I'm planning on buying some almonds and walnuts to add to my foods. By the way, Greek yogurt is really tasty. I've made it a staple, either with fresh fruit like a banana, peach, or apple, or with some cereal. I'm going to try tuna today and see how that goes. Honestly, it's nice to be able to control the food that I eat. I feel so much better and lighter and not weighed down by Mexican food. I shouldn't be losing too much weight in the near future. I can tell you exactly how much I weigh and an approximate BF% as well (provided you wait until Wednesday morning, of course :)) That's when I do measurements. Have a great week and I hope the girls have a great time at camps.

Love,

Elder Montgomery

There was A lot of Traffic for the Spurs Game Last Night!

That is pretty cool to run into old Navy friends from Bremerton. We knocked into someone who had just moved from Bremerton. That was pretty cool. Hahaha that's pretty funny with Montele. Sounds like they must have gotten pretty close. Bells Palsy? I'm glad that sounds worse than it seems to be. Crooked smiles are pretty cool, anyways. HEB definitely does have some good produce. How was Shipley's doughnuts? I haven't actually been yet but I've heard they're pretty good. Texas definitely could be more redneck than Georgia but it all depends on what part of the state you visit. Hmm most of the Elders i know are in San Antonio or on the Border. Sounds like you'll be able to go visit lots of people. That's fun. Nothing too new for the week. I got a haircut today. We haven't seen Wanda in a while. We have a training about Faith in Finding on Thursday. That should be pretty fun. Hahaha I'm sure someday you will be able to stay with them sometime. Probably a little less than a year. Nothing out of the ordinary has happened this week. There was a lot of traffic for the Spurs game last night. Hopefully, this week will be a little more interesting. I should have a lot more to talk about next week. Have a great week and don't let anyone else get paralyzed. Go Spurs!

Love,

Elder Montgomery



Padre,
Well of course it wasn't as bad. I'm obviously the favorite son :) Poor little Benners. Two Junes in a row that he's had to lose a brother. The next Junes will probably be a little happier for him. No worries, you spelled it correctly. Just as long as we're all focused on lengthening our strides, we'll turn out pretty good. We've got to make sure the other 3 do as well, of course. Hahaha fun stuff at work. I guess all things necessary to make sure that the work gets done. Wow. Bells Palsy. I'm glad that there aren't too many lasting effects from it. I feel like that would make being a missionary pretty tough. Who knows? You could win. I definitely realized in the pictures that Zach is a lot broader and thicker than the both of us. Pretty noticeable. There you go! I'm sure Ben will love mountain biking and it's good father-son time. I probably definitely wouldn't have tried Everest at his age either. Nor ran it. It sounds like there is hope for him, indeed. Things are going tremendously and I don't need anything yet. If you do ever send anything, though, just make sure it's not sweets :) Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Montgomery 

I am in the Best Mission in the World

And so it is. My little brother Zach leaves in 2 days! That's so tremendous! I can't believe I only have a year left. I feel like I just was set apart. Pies and ties, huh? That sounds like it was a lot of fun. I would advise him to leave his best ties at home, though. You never know what will happen to your ties. He can always have you send them to him if he needs them. The pies look super delicious just make sure you don't send me any. I thought that was Ryan Wiltz!! He looked super familiar but I couldn't quite pin it. Good to see some of the guys from back home. 

This week was great as usual! We had interviews with President on Thursday and Zone Meeting! I am absolutely certain that I am in the best mission in the world. I have the best and most inspiring leaders! Did I ever tell you that Elder J is a Traveling Assistant now? He was there on Thursday and we were able to teach together. It's amazing to see how much growth we can go through in such a short amount of time. I can't wait to see that in everyone else! So make sure you're all growing :) We get along great, just like I do with all my companions. We don't speak very much Spanish. We should be better about it but it's a tad difficult when everyone else you talk to speaks English. We don't get fed that much but that's okay. The P's came to church yesterday! They're doing awesome! 

Hahahaha that's hilarious about Duncan! Breaking the water fountain at the MTC. It is a good thing he has plumbing skills. I'm extraordinarily pleased to hear he is doing so well!

Well if by some chance get NBA final tickets, you will definitely be coming to my area. Just make sure you don't visit me. But definitely go to the game if you can hahaha! Houston is more humid and hotter than Georgia. So whatever you have to do to. Say hello to the family in Houston for me. 

The most repeated promise in Preach My Gospel is that the Lord is preparing people. The elect are being prepared by God and often, we don't realize who those people are. That's why it is imperative that we share the Gospel with as many people as possible. As Christ said, "Fear not; Only believe." Take courage in God's promises. Have the faith that everyone you talk to is ready to accept the Gospel, and if they don't accept it at that time, no worries. We all play a part in God's preparation of people. Talk with everyone and be not afraid. Only believe in God's glorious promise. The Gospel has been Restored and true happiness comes to us when we are obedient to his commandments. Have a tremendous week and doubt not!

Love,

Elder Montgomery