---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Elizabeth Montgomery <elizabeth.montgomery@myldsmail.net>
Date: Mon, Sep 9, 2013 at 6:53 AM
Subject: Letter #23 - 9/9/13
To: Christine Montgomery <chrismont9@gmail.com>
From: Elizabeth Montgomery <elizabeth.montgomery@myldsmail.net>
Date: Mon, Sep 9, 2013 at 6:53 AM
Subject: Letter #23 - 9/9/13
To: Christine Montgomery <chrismont9@gmail.com>
Dear password-protected family and friends,
У самой воды Чёрмного Моря
New mission rule that public blogs are nelzya (Russian word for prohibited), so if you're reading this, it means you're especially special. Pat yourself on the back, grab yourself a nice hot cup of herbal tea (as I do every night), and enjoy yourself a good ol' Sister Montgomery letter from the ends of the earth of Ukraine.
What went down this week, you might ask? Well, Tuesday was an all-day zone conference that, like every mission meeting, was awesome. We talked a lot about mission culture and creative finding. Since there's gonna be like a ton of missionaries by the end of the year (roughly "50 million" as Mom says), the mission is going more and more in the direction of service, since you can only ask members for referrals so many times. This next week we're gonna see if we can volunteer at a hospital singing for people there, or an orphanage doing laundry or something. We also got a lot of super great creative finding ideas that should work a lot better than dry old street contacting or tracting. I'm excited to try going down some new avenues to find people to teach -- it'll be fun.
Wednesday we had exchanges, so I was with Sister Rassavich (sp?) in Brovary, a small town just east of Kyiv. I had a really good time there -- very pretty, had some great contacting conversations and lessons, and in general exchanges are just plain fun (switches things up, you know?) Good stuff.
By the way, Lena backed out of her baptismal date. :( She just feels like she's not ready right now, and she'd rather wait until she gets back to New Jersey to see how the church is there. It's understandable (support at church is vital for investigators and recent converts), but I was really hoping to be there to watch her make that step in her spiritual progression. But all the same, she's doing great and she's still an amazing woman. We had a really good lesson this morning (I wrote her a song and played it for her... it made her cry), and we're gonna keep texting her verses and spiritual thoughts every day. Her time and place will come, I'm sure.
Other than that, it's been a bunch of the same. Oh, and I discovered something funny about myself: I've got a thing for middle-aged men. Not a weird thing, don't worry -- that's just the group of people that I've found that I'm most comfortable contacting, talking to, and teaching, kind of like my "niche" or something. Strange, huh? I mean, we try to talk to everyone, but give me a crowd full of teens, grandmas, and middle-aged men, and you can be sure who I'll comfortably approach.
Well, that's the gist of my life recently. Things are really quite good right now, and I have high hopes for this week. I'd like to leave you with a spiritual thought, but I'm out of time... how bout I just include the lyrics I wrote for Lena? Go find someone who speaks Russian (or Mr. Google...) and take what you will from it.
Love you all! Have a great week!
-Sister Montgomery
Шаг за Шагом
Сестра Монтгомери
Стоял и смотрел Мойсей
С армией за ним, пустыней впереди
Все боялись и желали вернуться
Но Мойсей повысил свой голос, говоря,
"Не бойтесь но стойте и увидите спасение"
Шаг за шагом, день за днём
Постепенно постоянно вперёд
Рядом с тобой будут мир и покой
Ибо рядом с тобой Искупитель твой
И день придёт когда Он же скажет,
"Дай им место в Земле Обетованной
Вот они шли за Мной
Шаг за шагом, день за днём"
У самой воды крещения
Стоишь и смотришь ты
С прошлоем за тобой, неизвестностью впереди
Есть сомнения и страхи вокруг тебя
Но есть тоже шёпот Духа, говоря,
"Не бойся но стой и увидишь спасение"
Шаг за шагом, день за днём
Постепенно постоянно вперёд
Рядом с тобой будут мир и покой
Ибо рядом с тобой Искупитель твой
И день придёт когда Он же скажет,
"Дай ей место в Церкви Моей
Вот она шла за Мной
Шаг за шагом, день за днём"
У самой Воды Живой
Ты можешь вечно быть
С страхом за тобой, верой впереди
Вступи в воду, вступи в завет
И Господь будет поборать за тебя
И ты будешь спокойна
Будь ты спокойна
Шаг за шагом, день за днём
Постепенно постоянно вперёд
Рядом с тобой будут мир и покой
Ибо рядом с тобой Искупитель твой
И день придёт когда Он же скажет,
"Отец, дай ей место в Царстве Твоём
Вот она шла за Мной
Шаг за шагом, день за днём"
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