---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Elizabeth Montgomery <elizabeth.montgomery@myldsmail.net>
Date: Mon, Aug 26, 2013 at 8:46 AM
Subject: Letter #21 - 8/26/13
To: Christine Montgomery <chrismont9@gmail.com>
From: Elizabeth Montgomery <elizabeth.montgomery@myldsmail.net>
Date: Mon, Aug 26, 2013 at 8:46 AM
Subject: Letter #21 - 8/26/13
To: Christine Montgomery <chrismont9@gmail.com>
Hey hey hey! This week was pretty exciting -- transfer week, which always throws off the groove of the work for a day or two, but things are back to normal now in the great land of Voskresensky. By the way, after a few more days, I'll have been in Ukraine longer than I was in Romania last year. Woohoo!
Well, I went out and got myself a new companion: Sister Cromwell, 24 years old, from Rexburg, Idaho, graduated from BYU-I in horticulture, worked in Nauvoo for a bit, and now on a mission with me! She's pleasant, quiet, and still a bit jet-lagged. :) It's my first time with someone who doesn't know a lot of Russian yet (unless you count looking in the mirror three months ago...), so it's been super interesting. I'm grateful I had native companions to help with my language for so long, because now I can basically communicate anything I want and understand almost everything people say. It's been awhile since I've said it, but I LOVE Russian. It's candy to my brain, no joke. But anyway, Sister Cromwell is great, and we're gonna have a great transfer together!
This week has been interesting with investigators. We picked up a few investigators that I had a few months ago -- Tanya with the three disabled daughters and Lena from New Jersey (she's back in Kyiv for a month). Tanya seems a lot more interested than she was back when we first met her, and Lena is as wonderful as ever. The Elders have actually been teaching her brother Genadi, and I think he's gonna get baptized soon if they can find a way to get him to church (he's paralyzed and very heavy). I wouldn't be surprised if Lena wants to get baptized while she's here too -- she is so receptive to the Holy Ghost, it's amazing.
Dang, I'm almost out of time to write. As a short recap, we had quite a lot of rude rejection this week BUT we also had a lot of encounters with very kind people who were genuinely interested in our message. Very up and down, but that's mission life. By the way, prayer still works -- one night we sincerely prayed on our knees to be led to those who would accept our message, and that night we found three legitimate potential investigators who I am very excited to meet with.
Also, though rejection has been rampant, I'm grateful it has at least been met with equally good experiences. To me, it's been a fulfillment of Ether 12:26: "My grace is sufficient for the meek, that they shall take no advantage of your weakness." Unfortunately, that gives the un-meek plenty of rein to take advantage of our weakness, but at least I have the comfort of knowing that the grace of God, combined with our elementary Russian and whatever few skills we have, is enough to find, teach, and baptize the meek. The rejection is hard, but what else can I expect while wearing my name next to the name of Him who was rejected more than anyone? "For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps" (1 Pet. 2:21).
I hope you have a wonderful week!
Love,
Sister Montgomery
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