Multi-zone Conference

 

And So This Is Christmas (Week 21)

Monday, December 25, 2023   8:40pm

Feliz Navidad mis amigos!! Hope you've all been having an awesome holiday season filled with family, fun, and the Light of Christ!!

Well, I'm sure you all are wondering how Christmas is in Argentina, and well...there isn't a lot that they do here I'll be honest. On Christmas and Christmas Eve, people usually have a party and make an asado which is pretty nice! We were also invited by some members to share an asado with them Christmas Eve which was very nice. But other than that, there isn't much buildup. No Christmas music, not a lot of lights, it's HOT which threw me for a loop, but I still really loved it, not because it was different than American Christmas, but because we were able to focus on Christ so much more.

For example, we started changing up our lessons to really focus on the reason He came here, which was His Atonement. He came as a baby birthed in the lowliest conditions, to later sink down below the lowest of lows, only to return to the highest of heights and grant us Redemption and Everlasting Life. I ended up sharing my favorite scripture a lot, Alma 7:11-12, because of all the joy and hope it gives to us, to know that Christ knows us perfectly and with that knowledge knows exactly what we need to better ourselves in whatever way we need to. I'll be honest once again, I get very close to crying every time I share it in a lesson, the Spirit I'm able to feel during these lessons is so tangible, it's beautiful. He truly knows us, and I know that He knows me and you and everyone. 

Well, the work is going really well! We find a lot of knew people every week, and quite a few of them show a lot of promise! In particular, we have a new friend named Javier, and he's amazing. He has a wife and a couple of grown children (haven't taught them yet) and he's super open to learning as much as he can about anything. We kind of found him on accident, as we were looking for a different person that was supposed to live near him. We were originally going to ask him if he knew the person, but when he introduced himself he was super friendly and asked us some really good questions about our purpose here, so we gave him a pamphlet and said we'd pass by another time! And guess what? We totally forgot to ask him about the other person haha! But anyways, Javier is super cool and is gaining his own testimony pretty quickly and it's awesome to see. 

There wasn't too much to report on this week, and I also don't have time for TotS tonight, so apologies for that! I would like to invite yall to read Luke 2 tonight though. I read it through a couple days ago and I really loved how much the angel Gabriel tries to calm the people he appears to, as his messages are ones of peace and joy. So yeah, I hope you all have a great time reading that this Christmas night!! 

Welp, I guess I'll sign out til next week! Have a happy Boxing Day!

Elder Montgomery

2 Nefi 2:4

I was casted as Angel Gabriel for the ward Nativity. I wonder why.

Gettin ready

Be not afraid

Good Tidings of Great Joy

Everyone be laughing at my hair

Merry Crisis

I did not want to go out today

Que bello

(He called while we were at Grandpa Mark and Grandma Cindy’s for brunch, so he got to talk to lots of family, including cousin Sarah who recently returned from the Gilbert, AZ mission…it’s such a blessing that we get to see his handsome face every week and that this wasn’t the first time we’d talked to him since he left like it would have beenback in the day!)

Christmas is CANCELED (Week 20)

                           Monday, December 18, 2023  12:32pm

And if the weather acts up any more, President will take away New Years too. 

Good day, dear readers! 'Tis I, Elder Montgomery, once again with riveting stories from a country that is not my own!

To begin, let me explain the title, which is a long story. Kinda.

So, down here in Argentina, we've had a bit of a rainy week. Pretty much every night for the last while has been a big storm, and I mean like BIG, especially last Saturday. That storm was massive. It had hit Bahía really bad at first, then came to Pico, so it wasn't awful when it got to me, but there were a few trees uprooted and the power here was knocked out for a bit. But yeah, Bahía was absolutely wrecked, quite a few houses were destroyed, tornadoes happened, and a few people even lost their lives. Scary stuff. 

But because of all that mess in Bahía, the Christmas party we were going to have there tomorrow has been postponed, which also means that we have very little plans for tomorrow work wise, which is going to be fun. But yeah, until further notice, there is no Christmas. In Bahía. With the mission. Luckily, the ward here is having a few parties, so we should be alright. 

Well, aside from the storms, this week was pretty awesome! We were able to hit quite a few goals, like having new people and lessons with members and such. It's been pretty faith strengthening seeing that even though I've been here for almost four months now, there are still people I haven't seen or talked to who are open to the gospel. The work never stops yall. It's so awesome to be able to work with these people and see faith grow. 

I had a couple of spiritual thoughts I really liked this week, one while I was reading the Old Testament and the other when the storm happened. 

Firstly, I'm reading in Numbers right now, and it's so awesome to see how organized God has always been with His people and how specific and personal He is. He called leaders for all the tribes of Israel that He knew would be what the tribes needed, as well as catering to the needs of Aaron and the tribe of Levi. He's the same with us today, He has an amazingly well structured leadership in this church all the way from His prophet to His missionaries. 

Secondly, with the storm, I thought a lot about Helaman 5:12, with the shafts in the whirlwind and having a firm foundation in Christ. A lot of the buildings and houses in Bahía that fell most likely didn't have the strongest foundations even though some of them looked strong. Often, we ourselves need to check and make sure that our foundation truly is one that will last when the storms of life rage around us. Pretty legit. 

Welp, that pretty much it from me! Moving on to TotS!

This week's talk is Opposition in All Things by President Dallin H. Oaks, April 2016. To begin, President Oaks tells us the purpose behind us being here, which is to make choices and learn. One of the biggest choices we make every day is the one to follow God and to ignore temptation. Unfortunately, we are imperfect, and therefore, we will make mistakes. But this is part of the process. We learn from our mistakes, we recognize patterns, and with the help from Christ through His Atonement, we can come back from sin and consequences and receive blessings from God. 

I honestly love this talk a lot, and I would have every new contact read it if I could. It explains so beautifully our purpose, which is often what people have questions about, like why God lets them suffer in their lives. And it's amazing that as members of this church, we have the answer. We have a responsibility to share it and help people step away from sin and choose the right. So yeah, I guess I'd invite you all to look for opportunities to appreciate the agency we have and to constantly look for ways to better yourself and make not just good decisions, but the best ones. 

I love you all, and have a safe week!! Christmas is this next Monday, that's wild! Hope it's a good one!!

Elder Montgomery

D&C 19:16-19

Tomas, Bauti, y Uriel, taught them how to pray

Nuestro querido amigo, Maximilliano

Lunch at Nova Pizza

(This week we talked to him from Helen, Georgia where we’re having an anniversary getaway for a few days)

 

Good News, Quite Literally (Week 19)

Monday, December 11, 2023    11:40am

Hello my people!! How yall doing? 

Welp, this week has been pretty awesome! Seen the hand of the Lord in the work a ton, got out of my comfort zone, and had a lot of fun! Lemme go ahead and get into it.

So, first off, I'd like to just shout out budgeting, meal planning, and cooking! This last transfer Elder Bain and I did a ton of that, and because of it, I still have about 35% of last month's payment, which is pretty legit and let's me live pretty comfortably now, maybe even splurge a bit?? Lol, it's a great skill that I'm very thankful my amazing mother taught me. And cooking as well, learned a lot from her by example I guess.

Elder Sykes has helped me impove my Castellano a ton! He knows a lot about grammar and Argentine slang, which we don't use a lot but it's helpful to understand when people use them. He's also read a lot of the same books as me and gets a lot of my dumb references, so yeah, he's pretty cool. 

Another thing Elder Sykes has done is pushed me to contact more people in the street! He helped me find a good opening to a street contact and how to go about inviting them to church or whatever we're trying to do that day. Street contacting has definitely been something difficult for me, but with the help of my comp and a lot of confidence in the Lord and the message, it's gotten a lot easier. 

Because of all the contacts we've been trying to do, we have been able to find a ton of new people and a lot of them seem like they're going to progress! Specifically, there's a family that Elder Bain and I had tried to contact a lot, we were never able to have a lesson with them, but somehow, the first time Elder Sykes and I pass by them, the mom comes out of the house super happy to see us, invites us in, and we teach them an amazing lesson! It's not only them either, so many points that I thought didn't have anyone all of a sudden have someone who's actually excited to talk to us! Again, it's definitely the Lord blessing us for our efforts. Super awesome.

Right now we are struggling with getting our amigos in sacrament meetings, but at least they do have a desire to go lol. A lot of them just have a lot of complications in the morning or literally do not get up because they're so deep asleep. Lazy Sunday vibes I guess. 

We did have a lesson that amazed me a little bit ago! It was with Agustin and Jennifer and we were originally just going to talk about fasting, (which we did) but Jennifer's younger brother, named Ivo, was there and he started asking us about the church, which was awesome, but what was even MORE awesome was that Agustin basically taught him the Restoration while we sat back and watched! We were able to explain and give a Book of Mormon to Ivo so hopefully he reads it! I was just very proud of Agustin for how well he explained the Restoration, I love those two very much. 

There wasn't too much else this week, so time for TotS!

This week's talk is He Has Risen With Healing In His Wings by Elder Patrick Kearon, our new apostle!

I love how he starts this tall, speaking about Ernest Shackleton and his expedition. Shackleton and his crew were put into a very difficult survival situation during this expedition and survived. Elder Kearon says that we may think that we couldn't live through a survival situation, but he tells us many of us have. Many members of the church have lived through abuse, violence, oppression, bullying, and many other difficulties placed on them by other people. In those situations, it's very easy to feel alone, like no one sees the situation and even if they could, they could never understand. But Elder Kearon says this is not true. Jesus Christ knows exactly what anyone has felt and knows the exact way to help them through these terrible situations. When we turn to Him, He will heal us. He helps us see our divine identity and helps us see that we are not defined by the things others have done to us. As a child of God, He has given us a way to leave this pain behind and move on, becoming better through the Atonement. This isn't just extended for victims of these actions, but for the truly repentant commiters of these actions as well. It is always possible to leave sin behind and come back to God and receive forgiveness in Him. 

I don't really have an invitation for you all today, but I do want you all to know that I love you very much and so does our older brother and Savior, Jesus Christ. I know that as we turn to Him, He can take away our pain, anguish, and sin and help us become new, better people, better siblings, parents, spouses and friends. Always remember that He's waiting for you to turn to Him, no matter your situation.

Love you all a ton, really. I'm so glad I have so many amazing people that care and have helped me become this missionary I am today.

Talk to you all next week, go forth in faith!!

Elder Montgomery

(Some pics from the album this week)

Rain with Elder Siques 

General Pico jajajaja (Pico=Beak en Español)

I've never listened to punk rock no sir I'm a missionary 

Dad Went To Get Milk (Week 18)

 Monday, December 4, 2023    4:24pm

Hey everyone, how's it going? Hope you've all felt blessed and thankful this week! 

So um, yeah, transfers happened. Unfortunately, my dear mission father has left me to be a zone leader in Necochea. Sad, I know, I will miss him, but whatever, the work of God stops for no man. I did receive a new companion though! His name's Elder Sykes, and he's great! He has an awesome drive to do the work and is AMAZING with the guitar! We're gonna work super hard this transfer and I'm excited for what comes next!

Elder Sykes and I did have a very cool experience yesterday. We had visited all the people we planned to that evening and a lot of them weren't there, so we had finished our schedule pretty early. We didn't want to go home just yet, so we stopped and said a prayer asking for guidance. We felt like we should just pick a direction and walk, we did so, and we were able to meet a few people on the street who were interested and wanted to meet with us again! It's just an awesome reminder that when we remember to ask God and put our trust in Him, He will provide for us! 

I feel like I bring it up a lot, but I keep seeing my Español improving every day. It seems like a new word I've never heard before comes up every week! I feel super blessed with the ability I have to understand and speak, and I know I still do fault a lot when it comes to being fully fluent, but I think i can truly say I'm bilingual at this point. The gift of tongues is very real, everyone, I like didn't study a lot of Spanish before this sooooo lol. 

We're still working, as usual, but not a lot has happened this week, so I'll move on to some TotS. 

This week's talk is The Aaronic Priesthood and the Sacrament by Elder Dallin H. Oaks. Elder Oaks begins the talk by telling us about the origins of the Aaronic Priesthood and its purpose in the gospel, describing it as a preparatory priesthood, one that unlocks the keys of the ministering of angels, repentance, and baptism. This lets us know its importance, as it gives us access to the first steps on our covenants paths. President Oaks also mentions the importance and sacredness of the Sacrament, mentioning how it was the last act the Savior performed before his Atonement. He also shows us scriptural evidence of the Sacrament's link to the Gift of the Holy Ghost, a tool that we can not live without in these latter days. With all this sacredness and solemnity surrounding this Priesthood, holders of it should act accordingly, Elder Oaks tells us. They should always be respectful of these ordinances and never do or be something that could distract from the Spirit of them. This caused me to reflect a lot, thinking about my own time as a youth in the Priesthood, thinking about things that maybe I should have stopped or started doing to make the sacrament and other ordinances more important to me, rather than just seeing them as an event that had to be done quickly and effectively. So today, I'd like to invite all of you to try to find a way you can elevate your experience with the Aaronic Priesthood. We partake of the sacrament every week, and it's a great time to reflect and think about what we can be doing to be more respectful of this great blessing and responsibility we are given. 

Well, I guess that's all I have for yall! This week went by really quickly and uneventfully, so I unfortunately don't have any pictures this time, but I'll make up for it next week! 

Hope you all have a great week, go forward with faith!!

Elder Montgomery

Scripture this week: D&C 1:2

(I did grab some photos from his Google drive)

With the family Coria 

Mis Compas 

Elder Bain and Elder Nieto's last night in Pico

Sunday is the best day

Welcome to Pico, Elder Sykes!

A sunset with nice boys

(Screenshot of Gracie talking to her Mattyboo today)