"Didn't I have a principal by that name?"

My comps did not come and get me at the airport. Imagine my surprise to see President Slaughter standing there waiting for me as I left the plane. I was able to spend the whole day with President and the new missionaries. I spent a decent amount of time riding in his car, just the two of us, and I was able to pick his brain on some things. He asked about what I had observed in the Atlanta mission and I was able to pick up some good study ideas. I was with the Assistants to help pick up the missionaries and I went to the Alamo and helped them pass out copies of the Book of Mormon. I even got to test my Spanish with a man who was from Chile! We ate dinner at the mission home and had some absolutely delicious brisket. Of course, the reason that I stayed with the Assistants all day was because I MADE IT UP TO AUSTIN!!! I'm in the city of Round Rock in the Brushy Creek ward. I can already tell this will probably be a great area. The members are super missionary minded and accountable to the goals they set. It's a fairly well off ward, similar to ours without most of the Shiloh area. I had In n Out for the first time and it was soooo good!!! My companions are Elder H and Elder H and they are both ballers. Elder H is probably the next best player and Elder H is pretty good, too. Elder H goes home on January 3rd. We have too much fun together! 

Our apartment is fairly nice. Nothing too crazy. We have access to perhaps the best gym in the mission because there's a member who's a personal trainer who lives in the apartment complex next to us. We also play basketball with a bunch of church members and their friends every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning. I'm getting lots of exercise in. We're being fed every day. In fact, my first dinner, a member took us out to a great wings place called Pluckers. He's from Idaho Falls and he asked what your family name was and so I said Holtom. Then he looked at me and said, "Didn't I have a principal by that name?" His name is Doug A. 

Good to hear Katie played some good minutes. If she keeps working, she'll be able to play a lot. I did hear about the games, in pretty decent detail actually. There are a lot of Utes fans here and one of them even googled me before I met him. I was flattered. The Bishop here is super cool and he said he was in the MUSS before it was even famous. So I've got the hook up there. 

Our party is this Wednesday. We have a great investigator named B. He's super close to getting baptized. He came to a baptism and ward Christmas party on Saturday and church yesterday. He is the man! Our party is on Wednesday. I love being a missionary again!!! It's tremendous that I get to preach, speak, and teach of Jesus Christ, especially during this wonderful season of Christmas. There really is nothing else I'd rather be doing!

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

High School Graduation Stuff

 Graduation Announcement

Senior Banner

In the South, each neighborhood that has a graduating Senior, displays a banner at the entrance of the neighborhood.

Out of Left Field?? Who is This Georgia Kid Austin, Who Just Signed with the Utah Utes??

 Some out West may wonder who is this Austin Montgomery kid from Lilburn, GA, that just committed to the University of Utah basketball program.. Here is a little more information just for you!

"Lakeview Academy standout Austin Montgomery has been selected to play in the second annual North Georgia All-Star Classic on March 16th at Gainesville High School. 

Montgomery averaged 20.8 points and 9 rebounds per game this season as the Lakeview boys finished with an 18-8 record and a state tournament appearance. Montgomery had 541 points and 235 rebounds in 26 games and also drew 18 charges, had 47 steals, 29 assists and 47 deflections. Montgomery shot shot 72 percent from the free throw line and 59 percent from the floor. 

The 2012 an 2013 Region 8-A first team selection finished his prep career with 1,326, third most in school history, and averaged 12.5 points per game in 106 games. He also had 772 career rebounds and averaged 7.2 rebounds per game.

He was an also a:
Lanierland Tournament all-tournament team member 2012,2013,
Georgia Coaches Association Top Ten player Single A in Georgia 2013, 
Georgia Sports Writers  All State 2013
2012. 2013 honorable mention All-State
All Area First Team 2013, All Area Second Team 2012, All Area Honorable Mention 2011

Montgomery is also a National Merit Scholar, State Finalist Star Student, Senior class president, Eagle Scout and will be serving a two-year mission for his church before attending college. " (from the Access North GA) March 2013

FYI.. Austin was a standout baseball pitcher and first basemen, until he decided to pursue basketball full time his Jr. year.

 Austin Montgomery and his high school basketball Coach Seth Vining

 Posting up in the All Star Game

 Opening Tip of the Aquinas Game

 FT against Towns County. Ended with 72% FT shooting . Second behind his younger brother for the team.

 Vs. Commerce

Recieving his plaque for his 1,000 career point.

Ended up with 1,326 total career points and the end of his Sr. season.