Last Sunday at Home

On Sunday, August 6th, Matt gave his farewell talk in Sacrament Meeting (even though it was Fast Sunday). Most of the local family was able to come listen to him speak. 

Later that evening, we had a small testimony meeting for FHE at Grandpa's house. 

Grandma had a pillowcase for everyone to sign so that Matt could take it with him to Argentina. 

I also made cheesecakes for the FHE treat that night. There was peach crumble, regular (with strawberry topping if desired), and turtle (which is one of Matt's all-time favorite desserts). 

Then it was time to hug all of the extended family good-bye to last for the next two years!

(Jooj)

(Bobby)

(Callen)

(Maddelyn)

(Hayden)

(Cat)

(Preston)

(Tori)

(Grandma)

Home MTC Week

Matt started his Home Missionary Training on Monday, July 31st. 

Since they were on Mexico City time, he didn't start until the afternoon. 

This is his district. His companion, Elder Noall, is to the left of his picture. He will continue to be with the same district and companion throughout his time at the Mexico City MTC. They jumped right in to learning Spanish!

All that training is exhausting!

We had the elders serving in our ward over for dinner on Tuesday of the week and Matt was able to take a quick break from training and come eat with us.  

He used our room and his room...wherever he could find a quiet place...for his classes and studying. 

Grandma and Grandpa stopped by on Wednesday night. 

Matt's phone got passed down to Eric, so he had to give him the low-down on it. 

Saturday of that week was Matt's p-day, so he and I were able to go do another endowment session at the temple together, which was so wonderful. 

We went to Wendy's for lunch afterwards and had such a nice, long conversation. Matt's such a great person to talk to. 

It's hard to believe that his Home training is almost done and he'll soon be on his way to Mexico!!!

Practicing Spanish on Facebook

Elder Montgomery officially started his Home Missionary Training yesterday and they're already working hard on learning Spanish! 

Hola! Me llamo Elder Montgomery, y tengo diez y nueve años. Soy de Wake Forest, Carolina del Norte, y estoy sirviendo una misión en Bahía Blanca Argentina. Me estoy preparando para mi misión en la CCM en la Ciudad de México. Sé que esta iglesia es verdadera, y estoy listo para servir.

Officially a Missionary!

Matt got set apart as a missionary by President Thornton on Sunday, July 30th after church. 

He gave him such a wonderful blessing along with it. 

Grandma Cindy was able to be there with us, but Grandpa Mark was in Idaho at a family reunion. 

Since he didn't have to change his clothes after church, he got right to peeling the potatoes to go with our oven fried chicken he had requested for dinner. 

That evening he also went through all of his stuffed animals and gave them away to his siblings. 

For FHE at Grandpa's house that night, Aunt Jocie told different family mission stories and had the kids guess who the story was about. We talked about where each member of our family served. 

Pre-Mission Family Party

Matt got back from his Idaho trip the day before he was scheduled to get set apart as a missionary, so we thought we should have one last family party that evening!

We decided to combine our annual Harry Potter party with Matt's family farewell party. His flight ended up being a little bit delayed, so he got home literally right when the party was supposed to start. 

We invited all of the local family over for pizza, butter beer, and Harry Potter-themed treats. 

We watched all of the Studio C Harry Potter sketches while we ate. 

It was a fun night together and I guess he's ready to be a missionary now!

Last Day at Work and a Quick Trip to Idaho

Another important event in Matt's preparation for his mission was his last day working at Chick-fil-A on July 24th. I told him he HAD to get a picture with his brother that day before leaving.

This has been just the best job for him. He has saved up well over what he needs to pay for him mission and has learned so much. Not ever having to work on Sundays was also a great perk!

He had a lot of employee reward cards saved up that he needed to use. He used some of them to get a new pair of shoes to take on his mission. The rest he used to treat the entire family to Chick-Fil-A for dinner that night!

On the 25th, Matt left for a quick trip out to Rexburg to see all of his BYU-I friends before leaving on his mission. He had a great few days out there and came back home on Saturday the 29th. 

While he was gone we got all of his missionary name tags and other important things in the mail!

 

Pre-Mission Family Trip

We decided we needed to take one last quick family trip to Williamsburg before Matt became a missionary. 

We headed up there the morning of July 18th and went straight to Busch Gardens. 

The 2nd day we went to Water Country USA, where Matt almost succeeded in his quest to not get wet at all. Until a thunderstorm moved in. We ended up leaving early and going back to the hotel to chill.

That evening, Matt bought Little Caesars for all the bros and they hung out in their hotel room playing Switch while Mom, Dad, and the girls went out to a restaurant in Williamsburg. 

The next day we checked out of the hotel and then hit Busch Gardens one more time before heading home. 

When we booked this trip, we thought it would be the week right before he started Home MTC, but his dates ended up getting pushed back a week. So now he won't start HMTC until July 31st and he'll leave for Mexico City on August 8th!