Dear Fam,
Transfer 8
gone and done away. I'm now over the hump (there are usually 16 transfers in the
field). Transfer 9 will be spent in Lormont with Elder Castillo for a third!
Very exciting, for everyone out there not keeping up with the transfer count
this will be my first time spending 3 transfers in one area. It'll be fun
because Elder Castillo and I get along well. Transfers calls came tuesday
morning as opposed to Friday which was really odd. So we feel like we've been in
the next transfer for while now, but in reality its day one.
This week was the best week for missionary work we had this past transfer.
July 4th came and went, we had a patriotic morning of studies with
pictures. And lots of other fun stuff.
We were really out on our grind this week, just spending all day out on the
streets. We passed a ton of old investigators, we had this really cool moment on
wednesday when we had passed Maxime. He lives in a sketchier neighborhood. As we
walked up to his apartment building this 16yr old arab kid came up and asked us
for a cigarette, we told him we didnt smoke and he asked us who we were, we kept
walking and he walked with us, which is not normal. So we kept talking to him
and as we got to Maximes door, another guy in his 20s walked and joined the
conversation asking us if we were the jehovahs witnesses or the mormons haha. I
had rung Maxime, while we talked with these two guys. As we stood and talked two
older trash guys (1 in his 30s and the other maybe his 50s?) came up to get the
trash and seeing the small crowd joined the conversation. Haha maxime didnt
answer but that didnt matter at this point, because here Elder Castillo and I
were giving the 'Sermon of Floirac' (as its been affectionately called). We sat
and talked with these 4 guys all of which were Muslim except the young arab kid
who ended up being catholic (?). They were throwing questions out, and we sat
there teaching them at the base of this government made building. We taught
about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith, what we really represent and what
makes us different than everyone else. It was a really funny moment because
usually people avoid us like the plague as we walk up. As we left, the younger
trash man told us we were always welcome in the neighborhood, which was cool. We
walked away feeling really good, even though none of them were interested in
learning more. It just shows that if people knew why we were here and what we
did, we would be a lot less 'weird'.
On Friday, we went into Bordeaux to meet a potential, which we had found
just after the sermon of Floirac, named Tafa. He told us to meet him at a pretty
large plaza at 6pm. At the time we didnt know that was the day and time of the
France-Germany world cup game. We got there and there were huge crowds huddled
around the various bars and outdoor cafes at this plaza. It was a really cool
atmosphere. Unfortunately Tafa told us he couldnt meet with us that day because
of the game, so we rescheduled haha big surprise.
Isabelle is doing well, we taught her mom again this week. Her progression
is very slow. We'll see what happens there. We keep praying for her.
We met a more than average amount of potentials this week, which we'll see
how they pan out this week! There are miracles around every
corner.
This week was a good week of renewal for me. I reflected a lot on the mercy
and love of the Lord. I took moments during the week to reflect on my personal
growth and increased ability to do missionary work, things that I hadnt noticed
as the weeks have gone by. I don't think these are the things missions are
about, its the great paradox of service. As we give everything, and work our
hardest to love what He wants us to love, to make our desires and our will His
desires and His will, He blesses us in greater measure. He has given us the path
and He has been clear in His explanations. We have the answers. There are no
longer secrets to those who search. The Lord gives freely, only on the condition
that we give freely in return. Personal revelation is an incredible and real
blessing, and the enabling power of the Savior's is also real. But we need to
lose our selves in being obedient, to receive it.
Love you!
Elder Montgomery
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After church on Sunday
our District after district meeting |
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| 4th of July! |
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| Elder Beyer who is leaving to Lyon |
