Fwd: [melandruthfans] Fwd: Letter #4 - 4/24/13 [3 Attachments]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Christine Montgomery
Date: Thursday, April 25, 2013
Subject: [melandruthfans] Fwd: Letter #4 - 4/24/13 [3 Attachments]
To: "melandruthfans@yahoogroups.com" <melandruthfans@yahoogroups.com>



[Attachment(s) from Christine Montgomery included below]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Elizabeth Montgomery
Date: Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Subject: Letter #4 - 4/24/13
To: chrismont9@gmail.com


Dear fam,

Good morning! Early letter today... went to the temple at 6:00 a.m. (a time which I didn't know existed prior to today), did laundry right after, and now we're emailing. I'm feeling a LOT better than last week. Still having some trouble sleeping (Russian is to my brain as caffeine is to the body), but I'm working on that.

Mom, to answer some of your questions, the investigators that we teach aren't technically real investigators. Our Russian teachers (there's four of them) play the role of a real person they taught or met on their mission, and we teach them as if they were that person. You'd think it'd be weird just "pretend teaching" like that, but it actually feels super real, and the Spirit's just as powerful. As for your question about birthday presents, you can go ahead and send them in May (but not too heavy cause I'll have to pack them!) I was thinking about gift ideas, and I really don't know what I'd want. I'm sure anything you send will be great. I was actually thinking... for Reanna, Mindy, Jess, and Becky, instead of sending me gifts for two birthdays and Christmas, what would you think about starting to save up some money for me to come visit you all when I get back next October? It'd be a lot of fun to just state-hop and spend a week with each of you -- way better than any gift you could send me. Something to think about.

Oh, I forgot I had pictures (courtesy of Sister Lee and her mad photo skills). Sister Clark's birthday was on Sunday, so we threw her a little party. Also, the dog picture has a story soon to come...

This week was super good! It started out with TRC last Wednesday night. That's when volunteers from around the area come in (acting as themselves), and we teach them (in Russian of course). I shared with them a few experiences of having my prayers answered, and it was really powerful. I'm grateful for the spiritual experiences I've had in my life because they allow me to testify with power to the people I teach, because I've actually experienced the love of God, the Atonement, answered prayers, and so forth.

Sunday was an awesome day, for a lot of reasons. First, I pet a dog! We were coming back from our temple walk, and Sister Barnes pointed out a dog that I surprisingly didn't see, and I darted over there faster than you could say "Fido." I asked to pet him (his name was Brutus -- fitting for his size), and then just loved on him for like five minutes. Totally made my day. He was so cute! Another awesome thing about Sunday: I saw Nathan! The BYU Men's Chorus came and sang to us, and I caught up with him afterward and got to say hi. That was a lot of fun. Oh, and I forgot, tell Emily how excited I am about her mission call! We're definitely going to find each other in that one week that we overlap. She's gonna love it here -- it's amazing. And while I'm on the subject of extended family, thanks to my aunts and uncles who have written me and forwarded me the cousins' letters. I'm grateful for such a strong support system!

Monday, Sister Barnes and I taught one of our investigators, Irena. The character is an atheist philosophy student interested in what we believe and why we believe it (on an intellectual level). It was our second lesson with her, and the first where we actually prepared a lesson (the first time we met with her, we just got to know her). Anyway, it was SUCH a good lesson. We started out by talking about how we know physical things with our physical senses, and spiritual things with our spiritual sense of the Holy Ghost (using 1 Corinthians 2:11-14). She was really interested in that, so we talked a little more about the Holy Ghost and how it feels and what it does. She asked how she could feel it, so then we talked about prayer. The whole time, her and Sister Barnes and I were totally on the same page with everything, and the Spirit was really strong. We read Moroni 10:4-5 with her, and I asked her if she wanted to know if our message was true, and if she wanted to know if there was a God. She was hesitant and answered with an "I don't know," and after some silence, I asked why not. She said, "Because if there was a God, then He would be able to see all the mistakes that I make, and that's scary. And I'd have to change, and that's hard. It's scary." I was surprised but so happy that she opened up to us like that. I told her I understood (because I do), but then Sister Barnes and I testified about God being our friend and how He sent His Son to atone for our sins so that we can receive forgiveness from those mistakes and sins. And even though change is hard, with the gospel, we change into something better than we are without it. We become more of who we want to be. We were out of time in our lesson, but we ended with prayer, first me and then Irena. It was the first time she had ever prayed, and I almost cried during it because I was so happy for her. It was an incredible lesson, totally guided and confirmed by the Holy Ghost. I love teaching, and I love WHAT I'm teaching.

That's all I've got time for today, but I'll leave you with a great quote I heard last year: "I sought my God, but my God I couldn't see. I sought my soul, but my soul eluded me. I sought my brother, and I found all three." -Someone Awesome

Love,
Sister Montgomery

PS - Some other sisters in my district have blogs if you wanna check them out:
sistermariellee.blogspot.com
sisterkatiford.blogspot.com

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Attachment(s) from Christine Montgomery

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