Hi everybody!
I don’t have much to report on this week, so I’m going to leave you with a quick spiritual thought :) I was reading a few weeks ago in Alma 47, which is about a man named Amalickiah. He is a wicked dude trying to figure out a plan to take over the kingdom and gain power. He realizes he needs to be super subtle, and work from the inside slowly. He goes over to Lehonti, the chief leader of one of the King’s armies, and asks him to come down, just a little bit, to talk with him. Lehonti refuses to come down from the mountain because he doesn’t want to fall in any traps. He stays strong. A second time, Amalickiah asks him to “come down! Just for a second!” Yet again, Lehonti refuses to move. Who knows what kind of danger lurks from leaving his camp and his guards! A THIRD time Amalickiah says to come down from the mountain, yet Lehonti still stays firm. Amalickiah becomes so frustrated that he says, fine. If he won’t come down, it’s time to be more aggressive. I will go to him. 12 And it came to pass that when Amalickiah found that he could not get Lehonti to come down off from the mount, he went up into the mount, nearly to Lehonti’s camp; and he sent again the fourth time his message unto Lehonti, desiring that he would come down, and that he would bring his guards with him. Since he has now come up to him, Lehonti thinks well, it can’t be that bad, right? I won’t be as far from my camp now. It should still be fine. Now, Amalickiah is a smart, subtle man. He says, “I’m only here to help! I want to make your army great. So, appoint me to be second in command.” Knowing that when a chief captain is killed, the second in command takes over. He eventually wins this position, and poisons Lehonti by “degrees” slowly, but surely, until it was too late. So much destruction comes from this. He takes over the kingdom and spreads wickedness that can’t be contained for years. Satan is so, so subtle. He makes his acts look innocent. When we are firm, and do not move, he steps up his game and comes closer. He knows us well, and when we let him in the car, he drives. His poisons don’t always come all at once, he will drag you down and pull you away from happiness and the gospel by “degrees”, little by little, until, it is too late. Don’t come off your mountain! Stay firm, positive, faithful, strong.... when we do those things, he has no power over us. But, the minute you come down, even just a little bit, we allow him to destroy us. Don’t let this be you. Don’t let him trick you into thinking “coming down”, no matter how small, is harmless. Stay on your mountain with the protection and love of your Heavenly Father, and I promise it will all be worth it in the end. Love you all so much! STAY STRONG AND KEEP THE FAITH! Sister McKayla Montgomery
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Sup fam!
What a wonderfully hard week it has been. I'd like to tell you a little about my refiners’ fire here in GYSA. As I have mentioned recently, we have really been struggling finding "success". It seems like every other minute we are dropping someone or an investigator is walking away. We started getting our hopes up when we began meeting with Andre. Well, as the pattern has been, in our lesson with Andre on Monday, he ended up walking out during the lesson saying, "I can't do this, I can't do this." After that lesson, I finally broke down. Why did he leave when The Spirit was one of the strongest I have felt in a long time? We all bore such powerful, sincere testimony, yet he still walked away. So, I realized something special that night. Everything happens for a reason. God's hand is in every moment. Sometimes you are called to an area for an investigator, sometimes it may be for your companion, a member in the ward or the people you meet. But sometimes, you are called to a place to testify. For me, I realized that right now, the Savior needs me to testify. I have never born more testimony or more sincere testimony than I have here in this area. Sometimes I, myself, am taken back by the things I say and feel. And I realized, that's exactly what the Lord had intended. I have never felt more converted, more sure, more confident and more grateful in my life than I have been while testifying here. My knowledge of this gospel and the Lord’s timing has become so firm, because I have heard myself lay it all on the line, and for that I am eternally grateful. Part of our mission song says, "Go ye therefore, and teach all Nations, Testify of me, and lo I'm with you always, till the end of the world." I know that He is always with us. As painful as refiners’ fires are, they sanctify, purify and perfect. How grateful I am that my Heavenly Father loves me enough to give me this opportunity to bear witness of Him; He has called me to testify. 💛 Love, Sister McKayla Montgomery You guys.... my life is crazy.
This week we went on two back to back exchanges, aka I didn't see Sister Sharpe for almost three days. We also had multiple meetings, and this week we have two all day meetings plus we are training two districts... help. If my email stinks next week you know why :-) So due to our wild lives I don't have too much to report on this week. We are still working with Andre who is our atheist investigator who doesn't know he is an atheist, lol. How does that even happen? He is so cool though. Surprisingly he's white! He's the chillest, surfing, guitar playing, man bun wearing guy I ever did meet. He's so, so prepared, and doesn't know that either, lol. He asks the most amazing questions which makes teaching fun :) Please keep him in your prayers! Well folks, I still love my mission. It is the hardest, greatest, saddest, happiest thing I have ever had the privilege of being a part of. I never knew it was possible to come so close to Christ Himself. I will never be able to thank Him enough for giving me this sweet blessing. This is the worst email I've ever written.... Sorry about that! THE CHURCH IS TRUE. Love, Sister McKayla Montgomery 🤙🏼 Hi Everyone!
Well, this week is going to be short and sweet. We have been working so hard to rebuild our teaching pool, and have seen absolute miracles! Heavenly Father heard our prayers and placed several people who are so prepared to hear the Gospel in our path. This week we had 5 investigators at church; two of which are atheists! AND..... one of them bore her testimony! It was her first time ever being at Church. The Spirit is real! Something really impactful for me this week was our lesson with Rallen. We found him a few weeks ago when we got a referral for some guy named Bryan, but Rallen is the one that ended up opening the door. He is also an atheist. This week we had a heart to heart with him which really helped him open up. He began telling us more of his life story that he hadn't before. Turns out... three weeks before we knocked on his door, he had a life changing event, a real storm he was asked to walk through that made him realize God wasn't there. But then we knocked on his door, and the first thing I told him was that, "we are here to help you understand why God has sent you the storms He has." I have never said that at a door before, nor knew why it came out of my mouth. He said in that moment, something hit him, but it had to “just be a coincidence.” Out of curiosity though, he let us inside, and has been trying to find God since. I cannot write the details of this storm, but it something very sacred to me, because it is a storm that I faced almost to a T. I quite literally knew exactly what it was like for him that night. I heard The Spirit whisper to me and my heart that this is someone that needed my testimony, but also needed my story. Other than Sister Braga (for those of you who have been around for a while and actually read my stories), Rallen is someone I know that I, Sister Montgomery, was sent to meet. This is someone I promised I would find, because I would face that trial first. My heart could burst at how full it was with The Spirit in that moment when I received that revelation; When Rallen came and held my hand and cried with me as I shared pieces of my own story and my testimony that God sent me to him specifically. He could have sent any missionary, but He knows Rallen. He heard the prayers he could not say; He sent me. God works in such mysterious ways; the miracles He allows me to see are so very sweet and sacred. I cannot thank Him enough for allowing me this opportunity to understand why He has given me the trials He has, and why He needed me to experience them in order to become who I am today. I know that His love is real. He is always there, whether we know Him or not, listening to the prayers we don't have words to say. Love, Sister McKayla Montgomery |