Week 3: We Are Representatives of Jesus Christ...?

Friday, October 25, 2024   7:07pm

Hi, guys. Élder Montgomery here. We were unable to go to the temple today because a water pipe burst. It was very sad, but I guess now I have an actual pday. 🙃

Our classes have been great. I enjoy learning about the gospel and how to teach it, as well as getting to grow closer to the other missionaries in my district. 

On Thursday, we started having our classes all in Spanish. From now on, we won't be speaking English in any of them, except for... our actual Spanish class. 

I think some people in my district have a problem with me eating bananas? I can't imagine why they might...

Uh, anyways, I've pretty much got monkeys for roommates(sorry guys). They've made and signed a contract that if someone says a swear word, or uses certain words as insults, they get punched by three other guys. I uh, also signed it. I guess you could say it was founded on good motives; It does kinda keep them from saying no no words.(I'm 90% sure they just made it cause they wanted an excuse to punch each other.) But they're cool guys regardless, we've been able to have some discussions where the spirit was very strong. 

(I think I also saw a picture of one of them wrapped in toilet paper like a mummy?! There was one full day without tp in our bathroom.) Love you, elders. 

I can see how much stronger my testimony has grown in the small time I've been here, and I think I would owe that to how much time I get to spend in the Book of Mormon every day. I love the Book of Mormon, and I know that if we read sincerely every day, our faith and knowledge will increase, and we will feel closer to our Heavenly Father. 

Mucho amor, Élder Montgomery

Week 2: MTC Arrival

 I thought we might get an email or message from Eric on Wednesday, letting us know he’d arrived safely. But we didn’t. I figured no news was good news. And I could see that he had logged on to messenger, so I figured that was a good sign. 

I sent him a good night message that night and he “hearted it” around noon our time the next day. 

Then, finally on Friday, he sent a message. I asked him how everything went/was going, and he said “Good 👍🏼”

He never has been a person of many words. 😂

But he was able to call us a little while later, and it was so nice to talk to him and see his face!

And he sent his 2nd email later that day:

Friday, October 18, 2024   

10:32 pm (Mountain time)

Hey, how's it going? 

I have survived my journey to Utah. Finally got to meet all the missionaries in my district, they're all super cool, and it's clear that our group was divinely inspired to build each other up and bring each other closer to Christ.

Alright, the food here is not very good. I guess I shouldn't complain though, there's a lot of missionaries, and it'd be very expensive to get quality ingredients. But I've been lucky to be able to eat food I like for my entire childhood, something I've usually taken for granted, haha.

Our district was able to go to the temple today to do baptisms and initiatories, which was really cool. Though the temple was massive! Me and another elder were pretty impressed, while everyone else in our district used to live near huge temples anyways. I think I prefer the smaller temple as it feels more special when there's not hundreds of people there. 

Overall, I really have enjoyed getting to the MTC, and I'm excited to continue to learn and grow my testimony as I increase my capacity to serve, teach, and invite others to come to Christ. 

A scripture I've found and really enjoyed is in 2 Timothy 1:7-10. It brings me a lot of comfort, and helps me to better understand my role as a missionary, and I invite you to read it and ponder the meaning for yourself. 🤷‍♂️

Have a good weekend, 

-Élder Montgomery (the younger) 

Bon Voyage Elder Montgomery!

Eric’s flight was scheduled to leave right at 6am on Wednesday, October 16th, so we thought we should leave for the airport before 4am. 

So Eric was up at 3am to shower and get ready. 

I think he would’ve liked a few more hours of sleep!

At least driving to the airport at that hour was great- very little traffic!

And getting his bags checked and everything went very smoothly. 

And before we knew it, it was time to get our final hugs. 

*Trying hard not to start bawling*

*Starting to fail at not bawling*

…sending him on his way…

One last look before heading down the line to security. 

*Cue the major waterworks*

We watched him until he disappeared through security and then we somehow made it out to the car and I drove us home. 

Where it was just about time to drive Paul to Seminary. 

Life must go on. 

After Seminary, I came home and slept for a few hours, along with keeping an eye on Eric’s flights. 

Both arrived to their destinations a bit early. 

This was his first time flying solo, and I knew he was a bit anxious about it, but all I could do was pray that it all went smoothly. 

And now we try to settle in to our new normal without our two biggest boys for a while. 

Tuesday Night Goodbyes

On Tuesday evening, lots of Martins stopped by wish Eric well on his journey. 

Allie made him this cute card. 

Julia was sick and was super sad that she didn’t get to come, but Kate called her so that she could tell him goodbye. 

Everyone’s favorite Ammon!

The kids hung out while John went home to be with Julia and Jocie drove over to say her goodbyes. 

Then after everyone left, it was time for the kids to have their final hugs and goodbyes with Eggy. 

Eric read our Book of Mormon chapter to us and then the kids went to bed. 

Eric hadn’t been sure if we would sleep or just stay up until it was time to get ready to head to the airport. But he decided he was pretty tired and that a few final hours in his bed would do him good. 

So he went to sleep. 

And I finished packing his bags. 

 

Last Few Days at Home

For his last Sunday at home, Eric requested Cafe Rio style salads. We invited Grandma & Grandpa, Bobby & Juju’s family, and Caitlyn & Preston’s family over to eat. Preston was out of town, but everyone else came. 

Elder Montgomery got a little bit of play time in with Baby Maverick too. 

And said goodbye to them that evening. 

Also that evening there was a zoom call with the Provo MTC president for all of the missionaries who would be entering that week. There was lots of good info. 

On Monday night, we carried on our tradition that we started with Matt of going out to Scoops for ice cream for his last FHE at home. 

And we worked on getting Eric all the way packed. 

Gosh, these two are going to miss each other! 😭

Eric also got to color in his first week on his countdown! And Matt’s 62nd week!

On Tuesday we all went to Zaxbys for lunch. 

And he requested chicken chili for his final meal at home that night. 

Can’t believe how fast that week of Home MTC went!