November 25, 2013

Nov 25 2013 Thankful


Elder Montgomery and Elder Merkley,  Benfica Nov 24, 2013 
67 Weeks in Angola                                                                            Nov 25, 2013
Ola minha familia!
So this weeks letter will be a little different!
First I wanna tell my family how much I love you all! Each and everyone of you are the best part of my life. And DAD HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOOHOOOO PARABENS A VOCE NESTA DATA QUERIDA MUITAS FLICIDADES MUITOS ANOS DA VIDA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PARABENS!!! I love and am thankful for You Dad.
So this week was super cool. Nothing special, no amazing quantities of work that got done, but it was just good. 
We did have a awesome fireside that we put on Sunday night about member missionary work, and that was a huge success so it was fun. We’re trying to get our branch to really bump up the missionary work effort. It was fun to work with members because there is always success.  So that was the highlight of the week. It was fun for sure. 
Saturday we were locked in house all day because there was demonstrations in the city against the government so we had to stay in house and do nothing all day. We wrote letters and played soccer, video coming, and slept and studied and ate all that fun stuff.. Other than that I had a very average week. We’re getting geared up for Thanksgiving this week and I’m sure stoked. Today we only have half a p-day then work, because Thursday is a soccer tournament and diner at President and Sisters Merrill’s house I’m so excited. We are the Benfica bate bwe. which means we WIN!
So as this week is a week for giving thanks I wanted to give thanks for a few things. I'm thankful for my family. They continually support and love me and make me better each and every day. You’re everything to me family. I'm thankful for the Savior and his atoning sacrifice for each and every one of us. We would literally be lost without him. I'm thankful for HIM!
I'm thankful for the little things, like a smile, or a good appointment, or the spirit in a contact, or free rides, or energy in our house, or not getting kicked out of the internet cafe early. The little things can make the biggest difference.
I'm thankful for the opportunity to be a missionary. I know this is the Lords work! He is in it and makes changes in the lives of all those who come unto him. ~
I'm thankful for a loving Heavenly Father. As one of our recent converts says '' there is no Father so good like Heavenly Father'' true that! Our Heavenly father is the best father that could ever exist. He is perfect! I'm thankful for the opportunity to try and be like him every day.
I'm thankful for y friends who help me be better everyday. 
I'm thankful for my leaders like President Merrill who is called by god to lead this mission in Angola.
I'm thankful for food and clothes and a comfortable house. I’ve never gone without those things, and I have seen so many people who have., I'm thankful for the life I have and the people I know and the love of our Savior and Heavenly father every day. ~I love being a missionary. I’m thankful for each and every one of you! I love you all!  I'm thankful for Thanksgiving turkey. my favorite foods, pumpkin pie. all that. 
I'm thankful for my mission! I love it an I hope you all are having a wonderful amazing week, and have an awesome Thanksgiving! I love you all! 
I'm thankful for you! 
com muito amor,

Elder Montogmery

November 19, 2013

 Baptisms Nov 16,2013
Elder Montgomery with D, and Her Aunt E. 

Elder Montgomery with D., and her
 Aunt E, and Elder Merkley

Elder Montgomery with D at her Baptism 11/16/2013

66 Weeks in Angola                                                                            Nov 18, 2013
Ola Minha Familia! 
Happy birthday to Aunt Coco and Marlise! Have awesome birthdays and I love you both!!!
This week was awesome. I’m grateful to be where I am right now. I know this is exactly where the lord wants me and when. I’m grateful for the opportunity to serve a mission and help others. I know that service is the best way we can show charity, and without charity, NADA SOMOS!
This week i learned a lot about patience, and my weaknesses, and relying on prayer and the lord. We had two more baptisms this week, D, and E, the sister and the aunt of the two boys baptized this last week. It was a really good service, and finally for once all the people responsible for the baptismal meeting came and it ran smoothly. Rare! But it was really good. I baptized them both, so that was really cool. Then on Sunday they were both confirmed, and then right after D sang a solo in the primary program. It was so cute! She’s the smartest little girl, and definitely the most in touch with the spirit in her whole family, and she’s only 11!
Our hour of consecration worked perfectly! We met a lady who knew about the church from Portugal, but never sat with the missionaries, and really wants too, so were gonna go to here house tomorrow! She seems really prepared, so we’ll see! But thanks for the idea Jake, it works for sure!
Other than that it was just another week, nothing that stuck out huge amazing, sorry everyone! Missionary life is just that way sometimes!
I’m excited to see your smiling faces here in about a month though!
I know this work is the lord’s work and that this is his gospel. I was reading in ether this week, and i was amazed at how over and over again, the brother of Jared would just turn to the lord in prayer and receive an answer or a blessing, and I thought "now why doesn’t that happen to me????" and then I read a little more, and the lord said to him, all these things I have done unto you because of this long time ye have cried unto me. Then later it talks about how the faith of the brother of Jared was so perfect that he knew nothing doubting. I wish I could have faith like that! But that’s why we’re all here is to grow our tree of faith every day, we have to water our tree everyday or it won’t grow. If it’s not growing it’s dying, so make sure each and every one of you is watering your tree of faith daily, and praying unceasingly to the lord. 
I love you all! sorry my letters are increasingly shorter as time goes on. But I have missionary Alzheimer’s. I don’t remember what i did last week or the week before. it’s all a blur!
I love you’ll ad I love the lord, and I know this is his work I’m doin. Have good weeks, and don’t forget, if your trees not growing, it’s dying!
com muito amor,

Elder Montgomery

November 12, 2013

Be a Hammer



Elder Montgomery, Antonio (recent convert) , Elder Merkley, Joao  life long member  from the Congo.

Brothers baptized T & J with Elder Montgomery, Benfica.


T & J 's family, their Aunt and Sister will be baptized next week. What a beautiful Family!!  Benfica

Beautiful Peacock

KTM Bike Store that sell Electra Beach Cruisers the store is right 
next door to where Colin lives in Benfica. 
( I wonder where they ride them and who buys them they are expensive here in the States)
65 weeks in Angola                                                                            Nov, 12, 2013
ola minha familia!!!
so this week i can actually write a good letter, we made sure the internet cafe wasn’t gonna close on us randomly. sorry about that last week.
So this week was really cool. We did tons of work, and have been having alot of success. Still pretty stressful, but with a good attitude and lots of prayer and trust in the lord, everything went ok.
So the week started off just normal workweek, and we set another baptismal date with a young kid named D. He is seventeen and has come to church three times, but because his parents are kind a flakes he hasn’t been able to progress really good, so we started sitting with him alone and taught him the law of chastity on Tuesday night e loved it and was so excited to be able to set his standards to be equal to the Lords, not the worlds. The spirit told me to ask him if he was ready to commit to baptism, so i did, and he committed to a date of the 30th of November, so we’re really excited. Even if he doesn’t make his date,( which is like 100% of the time), he still knows that he has the desire to be baptized and follow the lords example. so that was a good way to start out the week. Then that night we took A__. , a recent convert to is J__, a member form the Congo, the one in the picture I sent with me Elder Merk, A__. and him. It was an awesome visit. I shared the scripture in alma I think 19 or 17 about when alma reunites with the sons of Mosiah, and he is so full of joy to see that they were still his brethren in the Lord.. after that J__. the one from the Congo who was without the church until this week, after being a member his whole life, said in french (but we could understand almost perfectly, SO COOL! GIFT OF TONGUES) that he felt the exact same way and he knew it was inspired for me to share that scripture to help the spirit lift him up. So that was a really strong testimony builder for me. I love when I follow the spirit and it is the right thing. It sure is hard for me, I always mix up the spirit with my conscience and then it ends up and if I don’t follow it. So that’s one thing I’ve been working on lately.
 Later in the week we got an awesome reference from elder Mariquele and Hyde this young couple named G__. and L___. , they are really cool and we sat with them once didn’t even get to teach the restoration but they loved it and accepted the invite to church and c,me! VERY RARE! G. is 27 and works as a gardener at the US embassy, and L. is 17,,,, ya haha we laughed at that when we left their house. They’re not even forced to be together by a early baby or anything. O its good, they just really are a normal couple~, both really smart and tons of potential. So we’ll see where that one goes stay tuned!
 So that was basically the cool things that happened this week, me and elder Merkley did SO much work and it felt so good to be exhausted on Sunday night ready for pday.
 I know the lord is in this work. He gives us so many small miracles every single day and according to our faith and prayers, he will give us even more. Elder Merkley and I are gonna do the one hour consecration to the lord to be in the right time at the right place for the lord to show us what we need to do, who we need to meet serve or teach. We’re calling it happy hour! also I’ll let you all know how it goes next week.
 I love this gospel. I know that truly this is the lords work, and we are all just tools in his hands. BUT it’s up to us if we are the hammer,  right by his side on his tool belt, the hammer that he uses every day, or the little tiny alan wrench that never gets taken out of the box. My challenge for the week, BE HAMMERS!
I love you all! Hope your weeks are awesome, and know I love and pray for you all everyday! till next time,
com amor,
elder Montgomery
ps to answer questions!
 dad, yes it is HOTT. not full on summer yet, but getting there. for example, I’m sitting in a shaded cyber cafe right now, with the windows open, and sweat just dripped off my forehead onto the keyboard... that means it’s not full on summer yet!
1 to 10 in white man Portuguese, I have no idea. I’m fluent? but not perfect? I guess you’d say 7 or 8. I have no idea probably not even that good.
Mom, the only thing I know about visas is that the Americans and 5 mocambicanos (Mozambique’s)  SHOULD be here in December.
love ya all!

November 8, 2013

64 weeks in Angola

Pictures from Sister Merrills blog since Colin had problems sending some this week
                                                               Elder Merkley and Montgomery mixing up some of their favorite food for Conf Week End at Pres Merrill's

 Conf Week end at Pres Merrill's, who knows what their up to.  

 P-Day at he beach FOOTBALL 

 Looks Serious 

 Traffic Luanda Style 

64 weeks in Angola                                                                                          Nov. 3, 2013
I hope everyone had amazing weeks, i sure did. talk about stressful though. wow. so we had two baptisms this Saturday, two sons of a family I’ve been teaching with elder Merkley who are just waiting on marriage! It was the most stressful week of my mission yet, and the baptismal service was very very unorganized because none of our branch showed up, just the missionaries, but it was good. Sorry no pics of the baptisms, this computer is not working with my sd card
Also we had so many miracles this week, and I really really wanted to tell you all about them but the stupid internet cafe just told us they are closing in 5 minutes and we have to get off, and they didn’t tell us before. I’m sorry everyone!!!!!!! This is Angola people, forgive me haah
But anyways, ya I’m doing good, just having a blast with elder Merkley, our area is really droping good right now we have a goal of 6 baptisms this transfer and its totally reach able for us, so I’m stoked!!! I love being a missionary!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry this is SO short, gotta love people who don’t tell you important things like the internet closes in 30 minutes when we needed an hour and a half. sorry! I love you all! have a good week!
Mom, I have literally no idea what classes I’ll need when I go back to BYU.. but for my Christmas package,
Old spice sweat defense deodorant, crest tooth paste,, Christmas cards from people and  wedding invites, stuff like that and 3x5 post it notes, more next week love you all!

Elder Montgomery