This email is a shout out to Dad for raising me right and making Star Wars a part of my life-
Victor! Earlier this week we were teaching and I realized he wasn't paying close attention to the testimonies we were sharing. So, I asked him to repeat what we just said, and of course he had no idea. So, I asked him how he was feeling about being baptized and he said, "I don't know, I was thinking about Kung-Fu-Panda....." (Palm to the face) so we asked, well, why is it important that we do get baptized? And he said, "I have no idea! Why am I even getting baptized?!". So... we taught baptism over again. But in order to reeeeeeally help him understand it's true importance, I realized I needed to pull out the big guns..... Star Wars. Luckily, Victor is a fellow fan like myself, so I knew this would help him relate! First, we read John 3:5 "..... Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." Victor read that and goes, "Ohhhhhh..... I can't enter the kingdom of God if I don't." So, it finally started to click for him. However, the concept of receiving the Holy Ghost as a constant companion was something he was still trying to understand. So here is how the rest of our conversation went: Me: Victor, what is a power that all Jedi's have? Victor: Obviously the force Me: OBVIOUSLY, the Force right? In order to be a Jedi, you need to have the force! If Obi-Wan Kenobi was sitting in a room full of people, and an enemy walked in, what does the force help him do? Victor: Well.... It helps him sense there's evil and that he needs to be careful Me: exactly! The force helps warn them, right? What else does the force do? Does it help them during battle? Victor: Yes, that's how someone wins the battle is if they properly use the Force Me: Would Jedi's even succeed without having the force...? Victor:... No Me: Exactly. Now Victor, you are wanting a Life of Greatness, right? Victor: Right Me: Do you think that it took Yoda, one of the greatest Jedi Masters of all time, practice to become one with the force? Or did he get it right away the minute he was made a Jedi? victor: well I would assume it takes time, plus he has Light Saber skills that could defeat basically anyone Me: Totally. When did he learn all of his skills? Before or after becoming a Jedi? Victor: After.... only Jedi's have Light Sabers. After this conversation I got to explain how being baptized is a lot like becoming a Jedi; you now have the obligation and privilege of protecting others, learning new skills, basically saving the world. That is like the Gospel; being baptized you are given the obligation and privilege of gaining a testimony, coming closer to your savior and being a part of all of the ordinances and blessings he has in store! However, being a Jedi, you need help. You need THE FORCE, aka the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost warns us of danger; he protects us! He helps us know when we are going down a wrong path, and strengthens us when we are weak and fighting our own battles. The Holy Ghost helps comforts us at our greatest times of need, and overcome our trials. Just like any Jedi, it takes time to learn how to use the Force. It takes practice listening; listening to how the Holy Ghost specifically speaks to you! It takes practice using your Light Saber, which I like to compare to all of the tools Heavenly Father has given us, like the scriptures, prophets, council, church and prayer. All of these things take practice. They take dedication and effort. Luke Skywalker can't just show up to battle saying that, "well I'm a Jedi and have the force, so naturally I should be ok. My light saber will protect me." The Force and a Light Saber, even though powerful, are useless if you don't know how to use it, or, more importantly, you are not worthy to use them. How flipping cool that we are ALL JEDIS!! WE HAVE THE FORCE!! We literally have something as powerful as a stinking’ light saber!! We have MODERN DAY SCRIPTURE that teaches us how to "use the force" to one day become "masters" ourselves. We are all Jedi's in training, but we don't have to learn on our own. Us Padawons have the greatest master of all; Jesus Christ. Of all the Jedi's in the world, He is most definitely triumphant over all. We can have His guidance constantly by our side; we can quite literally become just like Him and HIS master, if we put in the effort and desire. You have the force.... USE IT! Love your Jedi Master in Training, Sister McKayla Montgomery
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I pray that everyone takes the time to read this letter, and listen to what the spirit is telling you personally. This is my greatest testimony, so please take the time to hear it.
I have been thinking a lot about the Savior and his Atonement. Specifically, the process of what He went through for us. His Atonement has become so very real for me, because I have come to know that it was a time He spent kneeling to his Father, saying, "Ok. I am ready to feel McKayla's life now. Let me feel everything she has gone through so I know exactly how to help her." Notice that He did not say, Father, let me feel all of McKayla's sins. He said, Father, let me feel McKayla's LIFE..... "Let me feel her excitement as she participates in something she loves. Let me know her thoughts as she is surrounded by the people she loves. Father, let me feel her many injuries and broken bones; her days she stayed home from school unable to leave her bed. Father, let me feel every night she has cried herself to sleep. Let me know exactly what it felt like to have her heart broken, fallen onto the floor in front of her. Let me know what it must feel like to walk through the storms you have asked her to face. Father, let me understand her guilt and her sorrow, so that I may take her in my arms, and lift her back up.” Those things were not easy to pass through. I can promise you that my storms I have passed through were not fun, walking in the rain without a coat or umbrella to block the winds. Some of the moments in my life are moments I don’t want to remember. There were moments that felt impossible; trying to glue these pieces of my heart back together again without an instruction manual of where they were to begin with. These moments were not easy; and they were just mine. One, single, solitary person from every single one of God's creations from the beginning to end of time; they were just mine. Yet He walked through them for me, and He walked through everyone else's. He piled onto His shoulders mine, yours, his, hers..... Luke 22: 42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. 43 And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. 44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. These storms He walked through were not easy for Him to walk through, in fact, I beg to differ that He, in all honesty, didn't really want to, for He knew the amount of pain He was about to bear. Yet He did it anyway, WILLINGLY and KNOWINGLY because He loves us. He would rather suffer the worlds pains then live a day knowing He could have saved us, and one day brought us home. I've been asked on my mission, "Why, if He is the Son of God, did He say, “Father why hast thou forsaken me?” If God was real, He would have stayed with Him and helped Him." Yes, that's true. God would stay and would help Him. God DID stay, and God DID help Him..... but there is something very important in this scripture- Matthew 27:46 "And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" The Savior's Atonement was so REAL, so STRONG and so GENUINE...... that He suffered the greatest pain of all. He suffered having God physically taken from His presence. Remember, He had to know EVERY feeling that could possibly be given to a human on earth, which included the absence of God's presence. Out of every storm He was asked to walk through, every burden, He was asked to hold, every pain He was asked to feel, every sin and pain He was asked to understand.... the thing that caused our Savior, the Son of God, the most pain was having His Father not near Him. And this is my testimony of the power of the Savior's love- that He sacrificed every mortal experience that could have been born. I cannot imagine the pain of a Father, having to physically let go of his crying child's hand. Willfully sending His Son to be beaten, spit upon, rejected, mocked, killed... if anyone's heart was shattered on the floor without a manual to fix, it was His. But He did that for you, me, she, him and we. How on earth can we live day to day knowingly and willingly turning from the Savior, and living in such a way that God just cannot be by your side, knowing that that was what caused the greatest pain to your brother? How can someone willingly reject the Gospel after knowing of its truth, throwing their testimony in God's face and saying “here, take it back. This life I'm living, that isn't forever, is more important to me than all the blessings, salivation and exaltation your Gospel and Son provides.” How is this possible? My heart aches as I imagine Jesus Christ kneeling in the Garden saying, ok Father, what is next for this person? And then feeling His brother or Sister turn away from God, suffering the greatest pain of all. Brothers and Sisters, friends and family, I know this Gospel is true. More importantly I know His Atoning sacrifice is real. It cannot be put into words. I know that He has experienced your LIFE; He knows greater than you the consequences because He's already felt them, and He allowed God to leave Him so one day you don't have to. Please, with all my heart, I ask that you find this truth for yourself. That you stop living in such a way that draws God away from your side; It caused our Savior to cry out in greatest agony, and it is something many of you are doing at this very moment. Don't allow His love and blessings to be hidden from you any longer. His Love is always there, He already allowed it to be so; you just need to find it. Love, Sister McKayla Montgomery I NEED A GOPRO SO I CAN JUST SHOW YOU ALL OF THE AMAZING THINGS THAT HAVE BEEN HAPPENING AND THEN I WOULDN'T HAVE TO TYPE HAHAHA. But serious note..... I seriously won't even be able to write everything. The past several weeks have been absolutely incredible! Well folks..... I am officially in a new area! Don't worry, I haven't gotten kicked out of Montgomery County quite yet; I am now in Gaithersburg serving in the Young Single Adult branch! So, dang fun! There is just something so different about serving and testifying to someone who is your same age; someone who sees the world as you do. Plus, my companions name is *Drum roll* MAKAYLA! How fun is that! We are testifying like crazy together and busy as ever! This week we put two people on date! One of them is Victor. We had one of the most powerful Plan of Salvation lessons I have ever had. I wish you all could have seen his eyes and heard him say, "that's amazing" when he learned about the atonement of his Savior Jesus Christ; suffering specifically for him. After discussing the atonement, I invited him to be baptized. He was quiet for about a minute, just thinking. He said, "I'm not sure" and so I asked him what his heart was telling him to do. He said, "It's telling me to live a life of greatness". I looked at him and said, "Victor, did Jesus Christ live a life of greatness?" He of course replied, “yes”. I took a moment to allow The Spirit to really touch his heart. I then said, "Victor, you are right. Jesus lived the GREATEST life. He was our perfect example of HOW to live a great life. Even Jesus Christ knew, without baptism, without the love of this Gospel, He couldn't live a life of greatness, no matter how wonderful He was." I then re-invited him to start his journey of a Life of Greatness, one day leading him back to his Savior by being baptized. He accepted to enter the waters of baptism on July 29! I could not be more excited! Today is actually my year mark- i seriously cannot believe time has flown by this quickly. My heart hurts knowing its coming close to an end, but is constantly being rejoiced in this wonderful work. I can’t even put into words the miracles we see and the people we get to bare testimony to. There is nothing I would rather be doing this past year then walking side by side with my Savior, extending His hand, and helping others take hold of it; truly helping someone to 'stand' that has been down for so long. This year has been such an overwhelming testimony to me that this Gospel is what lifts us when we cannot stand. I know that to be true with my entire heart. I know that His hand is constantly reaching out to us, STRETCHING, just yearning to take hold and bring you back to joy. I am so grateful for this knowledge, and the opportunity I have had to share it this short year. I love this Gospel, I love my Savior, and I love being His missionary. I hope you all had a fantastic Fourth of July and lit hundreds of sparklers for me! Xoxo! Sister McKayla Montgomery Pic 1-McKayla and Makayla teehehehehe
Pic 2- HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY FROM THE WORLD'S CAPITOL! Pic 3- Perks of being in YSA- they stalk you and make you Pokémon cards lol Pic 4- Gonna miss this girl Pic 5- Sweet Debbie Pic 6- Goodbye John! Pic 7- My little buddy |