Fwd: Letter #74 - 9/1/14

OK....when I thought her letters couldn't get any better.......this is a "must read."  Her Sacrament Meeting talk was amazing!!!  Have a great week everyone!

Christine

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Elizabeth Montgomery <elizabeth.montgomery@myldsmail.net>
Date: Mon, Sep 1, 2014 at 4:43 AM
Subject: Letter #74 - 9/1/14
To: Christine Montgomery <chrismont9@gmail.com>

Hello family! So, we got transfo on Saturday (the last relevant transfer information of my mission!), and looks like I'm staying in Suvorosky with Sister Cromwell until the end! It's what I was expecting, and I'm really happy about it. As I told Sister Cromwell, this last transfer was probably the most peaceful of my mission; Sister Cromwell and I get along fabulously and without any problems, and the work hasn't ceased to move along. It's also cool because Sister Barnes is coming here to serve with Sister Nielsen; ironic that we started our missions together (as companions in the MTC) and we'll be ending them in the same area. It's gonna be so much fun to serve around her again. :)

Well, we've had a good week, and I'm happy and safe and all that. Unfortunately I spent a lot of my email time writing out my sacrament talk for y'all, so this little update will have to suffice. Hope you all have a great week, and I'll write more next week!

Love,
Sister Montgomery

PS -- Here's part of the the talk I gave in sacrament meeting last week, translated into English of course. There's a lot more symbolism that I've come up with using this example, but here's just one aspect of "the mansion of God." Enjoy!

The Mansion of God

Today I'd like to share with you an illustration to explain the Gospel of Jesus Christ as a whole. Imagine that we are all in one enormous mansion with hundreds, even thousands, of rooms. Everything here is beautiful, clean, and interesting. This mansion is a symbol of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Some have lived here since birth (like me), others have moved here later in life -- maybe 20 years ago, or maybe just recently. Perhaps you've come in, left, and returned, or perhaps it's your very first time here. In any case, we're all here right now in the grand, beautiful mansion.

Now I would like to take you on a tour of this home. As missionaries, we often have the privilege of conducting these "tours" with many different people, and it is my absolute favorite part of my service here. As many of you know, we teach people mainly four lessons: (1) the Restoration, (2) the Plan of Salvation, (3) the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and (4) the Commandments. Allow me to take you through each of these rooms.

First, let's move into the first room: the Restoration Museum. Here you find out the history of this mansion: how it was designed by a loving Heavenly Father for the happiness of His children, how it was built by prophets and His own Son Jesus Christ, how wicked people throughout time fell into apostasy and therefore destroyed this mansion and built their own homes, but how God again and again restored it, most recently 200 years ago through the Prophet Joseph Smith, because He loves us that much.

Now let's move into the Plan of Salvation Hall. You walk in and see an enormous mural covering all the walls. To the left of you you see the mural of your premortal life, before your birth, where you lived with God, where He knew you and you knew Him, and where you rejoiced at the opportunity to come to the earth. And in front of you, you see the mural of your life right now. Not everything about it is beautiful (because of course there are trials and sorrow), but you see the big picture and understand the purpose of life: to become perfected through experience, to be happy through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and to become like God. And you understand that everything that seems unfair about life will be made fair thanks to Jesus Christ because there, on your right, is the mural of life after death. There you see that we will all be resurrected, that everyone will have an opportunity to hear and accept the gospel, and that we will all stand before God to be judged according to our choices and actions here on the earth.

Next, let's take a look at the utilities room, where all the electricity, gas, and water in the mansion are regulated. This is the room of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and there right in the middle is an enormous generator, which gives unlimited electricity to every single room in the mansion. This symbolizes the Atonement of Jesus Christ, which gives light, joy, peace, peace of conscience, remission of sins, strength, comfort, and even more to every person who experiences it. And there next to the generator are four simple switches -- four steps in order to receive all the blessings of the Atonement of Jesus Christ: faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins, and the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. And we need to do everything in our power to make sure that these switches are always ON.

And finally we move into the last room: the Hall of Commandments. Like the Plan of Salvation Hall, this is also an enormous room, but in this room there's absolutely nothing... except for doors lining all the walls. Every door has a commandment written on it; there's "Daily Scripture Study," on the right is "The Law of Chastity" and "The Law of Tithing," and further down you see "Keep the Sabbath Day Holy." And next to every door there lies a key on which is written OBEDIENCE. But as your guide, I'm not allowed to open these room for you; I can only tell you about what incredible, unending treasure awaits you behind those doors. And then you must take the key, open the door, and discover for yourself what's there. There are so many blessings that your Heavenly Father wants to give you, and He is simply waiting for you to open up those doors by obedience to His commandments.

That is only a little tour of this Church, and I know that it's all true and incredible. And if you're like me, and you truly come to realize what this mansion holds in it, then you can't just stand around here by yourself. You want to go outside and tell everyone about it. Likewise, when we truly understand the gospel of Jesus Christ, we share it. And then we realize that "missionary work" is a lot more than just an invitation -- it's a tour of the Kingdom of God.