Périgueux in November ... November 12, 2013

Chére Famille,

It was great to hear from you! Yesterday was Armistice Day, so basically everything was shut down including our internet cafe. 

This past week was one of very hard work and diligent perseverance. Along with the rest of the mission we had an M-week, or rather a Monster week or Miracle week, where we worked harder, sacrificed more time, and stayed out longer and it was accompanied by bigger goals and more specific plans along with more fervent prayers.

I can honestly say that although we did not hit most of our goals last week, we are definitely seeing the fruits of our labor this week. We have several teaching appointments already set for this week with people who are very ready for the Gospel. And we saw our fair share of miracles.

Last Monday we only had 3 more contacts to make before we hit our goal (75 contacts), and we decided to walk down one more road that was poorly lit and rather sketchy before heading to the church for FHE. On our 75th contact we had an hour long discussion/lesson with a man who had a ton of questions about our church. It was such a coolll encounter.

We had one neat experience on Sunday evening. We had found a an old record of a man that had been taking the lessons almost a year ago but had since stopped, and the reason being a lack of desire to progress. We had baked some cookies and went over to visit him as our last activity Sunday night. He let us in without hesitation as if he was waiting for us. After reading a chapter out of the Book of Mormon, he told us,"I feel really good right now, I really need you guys in my life at this moment." then he ended by telling us "Come knock on my door Sunday morning and if Im awake i'll come to church with you, if not come Sunday evening at 6, and see me then." He told us that he had been struggling to quit smoking but could not find the motivation, and that he has been struggling to find work as while. It was such a refreshing experience to meet with someone who had been changed by his humility and who the Spirit so strongly attended to.

Friday morning as we were walking out of the church we walked by a car with a cracked window and a man inside, I threw out a quick bonjour, and my comp at the time (exchange) Elder Cardall, stopped and started talking to him. To my surprise the man got out of his car and started a conversation with us. He had all sorts of questions about God and life after this life. I was thinking, "We have the answers!!!". We ended up taking him and giving him a tour of the chapel and teaching the first lesson. Just at the end of the lesson we were interrupted by his cell phone with his friend on the other side (the friend for whom he was waiting in his car). A rather unfortunate ending but we got his number and he told us to call him sometime to talk more. And he accepted the invitation to read the Book of Mormon. 

We saw very cool miracles like these all week, results of being guided by the Holy Ghost as we were working our tails off to reach our goals and find those souls who are ready to accept the fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was a wonderful experience.

We also went to Brive this week for a missionary musical soiree. In Brive there is a world reknowned patisserie that has the most wonderful and incredibly huge pastries youll ever see (pictures included). We bought one before our 7am train ride back to Périgueux. C'etait merveilleuse :)

We got the preordered, incredibly huge Speculos Eclairs. Best patisseries in the world.

I love you all so very much! I love being a missionary. And even more so than that I have seen the fruits of the Gospel in my own life. My own personal view on life has become simpler and the future seems exciting and full of hope. I feel empowered as I apply the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that it can work for everyone.

Beaucoup d'amour,

Elder William Montgomery

Thursday We had a 3 hour Contacting competition with a points system and everything. Senior Companions vs. Junior Companions. THe Juniors won.

Shout out to Mom and Rosemary! I found an Aldi!!! 

 

On our way to Samedi Sportif

Waiting at the bus stop

A Rainy day in Perigueux! .... November 4, 2013

Bonjour tout le monde!

How are you? I have gotten remarkbly little information about la famille lately...How is everyone? 

Shout out to Nate for snagging that job in Sacramento.

My first week in Périgueux was a wet one. It has rained a lot and is cold. Its really quite nice. I love the rain! And it is even more fun preaching the gospel in the rain. It makes me feel like a real missionary! haha

Our branch is fantastic. The thing about France is you'll people here that you'd never meet any where else. For example there is member in our branch, he runs a tatoo shop...he is endowed and sealed with 4 young children, and he runs a tatoo shop. He has a handlebar mustache and tatoos down his arms and he runs a tatoo shop...but he is the most faithful member of the branch here. How cool is that?

The second counselor of the presidency is an Cowboy fanatic and wears a bolo tie every week to church. But gets things DONE.

It was once again impressed upon me how universal the Gospel of Jesus Christ is. Our branch is a collection of some of the oddest people Ive ever met all united in the same cause: to live the gospel of our Savior and to help others find the peace and rest that lies therein. The Gospel is for everyone in the world. It is a beautiful thing to see. 

Because the temples are so far away here usually the wards will have temple weeks, where everyone saves up and travels to a temple for a week. The branch just got back from the temple in Madrid. And all 9 young men in our branch stood up and bore strong testimonies of their experiences there on Sunday. It was quite incredible to see the faith that these branch members have.

The sole lesson that we taught this week was with a man named Thierry, who after much search and trial believes that he was unworthy to pray. We sat in the small church classroom for an hour explaining the Atonement, and the great Plan of Happiness our Heavenly Father has created for us. And that through that plan we could all be forgiven for mistakes we make and overcome the weaknesses that we have through our Savior Jesus Christ. Never think you are unworthy to pray. Your Father in Heaven wants nothing more than the best for you, and as a result wants you to communicate with Him as much as possible about your problems and worries, small and trivial as they may be. This was the testimony that was burning inside of me as we taught Thierry. And after a long period of silence, he was able to say a prayer and ask for forgiveness. It was small yet remarkable step in his spiritual progression. 

Yesterday I taught the lesson in Gospel Principles, it was rather scatterbrained and all in french but it was a good experience none the less. THis week, Elder Wilson and I are having a week of only speaking French. Its very exciting. I love seeing challenges that I know I can conquer because I know in Whom I trust (2 Nephi 4).

Je vous aime!!

Beaucoup d'amour,

Elder Montgomery

My new address is:

Les Missionnaires

4, Rue LaGrange Chancel

24000 Périgueux, France

Elder Wilson and I found an apple tree while porting, we snagged a few.

A little périgueux beauty

A little périgueux beauty

Hit me up!!

It was a Nice stay! Hello Perigueux! .... October 29, 2013

Chére famille,

I got transferred! First one! 

I spent all day yesterday on trains going from the southeast corner of France to the west coast, eventually ending in a smaller city outside of Bordeaux named Périgueux (Pear-ee-goo). 

First, let me express my love for Nice. It was fantastic, I absolutely love the people there, they are family to me now. I was very sad to leave them. But I am more than stoked to be serving in Périgueux which is a nice switchup from Nice, being quite a bit smaller and feeling a little bit more like a city I'm used to. My new companion is Elder Wilson, who's father was in the Air Force so he has spent his fair share of time all around the States and is currently in his 12th transfer. He IS GREAT. I am very excited for this transfer and for the opportunity it brings. I just love being a missionary in the best mission in the world.

I would like to dedicate this email to Elder Uluave, my mission father, who died (finished his mission) yesterday. He was one of a kind and I absolutely adore the man. You just never know...what you'll get out of Elder Uluave. He is a brother and I can't wait to see him after the mish. He taught me to have fun out here while working hard. We worked together, prayed together, and walked together. Included are some photos of him and me.

We had two rendezvous this week with an evangelical man and his friend that both turned into bible bashing sessions. It was frustrating and annoying. I was annoyed that we as missionaries fell into the trap. I was sad to see them resist the truth that was being laid before their eyes- along with the peace and blessings that came with it. I want to express my testimony to you of the foundational importance of the Book of Mormon. It is the keystone of our religion. By accepting its invitation to read and pray about it, we can know that God lives and is our Heavenly Father, Jesus is our Savior, that this church is the restored church of Jesus Christ on the earth today, and that we can change and life can become what it should become! I invite you all to read the introduction to the Book of Mormon this week and ponder on it. It is very inspired. I love this Gospel so very much.

"We are not obedient because we are blind, we are obedient because we can see." -President Boyd K. Packer

I love you all!

Beaucoup d'amour,

Elder William Yarn Montgomery

The Nice District

Quentin, Eva, et moi. They were baptized 4 months ago

Bishop Muenier and his family

Timothe

Xavier Adell

Rui

Violetta (V-house) our Peruvian member

Sister Witt and Sister Hodder

Old man Felix with Sister Young

our boy Johnny Yang

Tanjouna and Tahiana (Tanzoon and Taheen from Madagascar)

His is Luc, a non member we play basketball with, he is a gospel singer...he is so hilarious and loves the missionaries!

THis is Donna, shes british and fantastic

Elder Loera and I on the pier in Beaulieu, which is just outside of NIce

Transfer Day Sighting... Destination Unknown!

Transfer Day Sighting  ...  in a Nice Train Station.  Destination unknown.

The Light of Nice .... October 21, 2013

Chére famille,

What a week...its flown by! Time just will not slow down! Just in case you guys don't know, It is almost November. Which means Thanksgiving and Football...too bad we have neither of those things in France.

A few fun highlights from this week:

• We went to the local country club in Nice and hit golf balls for an hour on the driving range...(it was nothing like our course back home, ours is much nicer)

• We were at the prefecture this week doing legality for some other missionaries in our district and there was a lady behind me in line. Turns out she is a member of the church from Argentina living on the border of Monaco and she has been looking for the church in Nice for a couple years now and we got her number and invited her to church and the whole 9 yards. #findingthoselostsheep

• We actually got into see Anton this week, a less active that we've been trying to see for almost two months now. We saw him at his house and invited him to church. It was quite powerful and he said he'd be there next week.

This week was a blur. And it was rather saddening because we did not see much progression in our work in the beginning. We found that the investigators we are working with aren't really willing to progress However it is incredible to see that as we pushed through the trials we had we found those people that our Heavenly Father saw fit to guide to us. We saw a lot miracles and I'm quite excited for the coming week.

This week I thought a lot about darkness and light and how as representatives of Jesus Christ we go into the darkest and coldest corners of the world on His behalf, acting in His name. There were days this week when we met people who's lives were in darkness, they were sad and alone. And has we followed the guidance of the Spirit we found several people that we are going to be seeing again this week who are in desparate need of their Savior's love. And as I reflected on this fact it brought great joy to my soul to know that we can all be that light in the lives of others.

On the back of my planner is a picture of the resurrected Christ with the scripture from 2nd Nephi: Wherefore ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men". We must press forward with that Light!

Sorry there isn't a lot for you all today. 

This week was just good, hard, grunt it out missionary work. But I'm so excited to see where this coming week takes us. It is so incredible to see the hand of the Lord in our Lives.

Beaucoup d'amour,

Elder William Montgomery