HERRO!!!!!!!

Wow. What a great week. I can't believe it has already come to an end. We saw so many miracles happen this week! The biggest miracle being a girl named Abi! She is too cute! We found her knocking, she let us straight in, and we taught her about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and she wants to be baptized! It was such a miracle because what we went through with Sam last week was able to help Abi this week! It was SO COOL.

I just want to thank everyone for the prayers that have been sent my way and to my investigators the past 18 months. You have no idea how much it means to me. I have learned so much and my testimony has strengthened in ways that I didn't expect but I am excited to apply all that I have learned and help those around me. Last night we were following up with the Zone Leaders about the Zone and we started and ended with a prayer and Elder Kull said "please bless the sisters to see miracles in their area... Whether that's Newcastle or Eagle Mountain" it was funny but I also appreciated it☺️ I am going to miss England and all the people here so much! But I'm excited to see what Heavenly Father has in store for me next!

I am so grateful for all of you!! I will see yous soon!!

Sister Montgomery

Newcastle District 3.0

Saying goodbye to Amanda!😭

The cutest hot chocolate!

I am going to miss them so much

Ayyup everybody!

So. This week.

We didn't get a lot of time in our area because we spent a lot of time with sisters. We had an exchange with South Shields, a blitz with North Shields, a blitz with the Chinese sisters, and had a sleep over with Durham. They all went really well and they each had the outcome we wanted them to have! The sisters are on fire right now! It's so good!

As for an update on our area. Sam...got baptised then ran out of the church...definitely the weirdest thing to happen to me. It really got Sister Pinther and I down. We received blessings from the elders which really helped. It was a pretty rough night for us but we received lots of phone calls from missionaries, members, and President and Sister Turvey. They all really helped and brought a lot of comfort. Yesterday it was still pretty rough so last night, I was thinking and I was like "I really don't want this to affect my last week. I want to not focus on it and I want the Spirit with me and I want this awful feeling to leave." So I turned to the scriptures and read Mosiah 7:33 "But if ye will turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him with all diligence of mind, if ye do this, he will, according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage." That brought so much comfort to me. As long as I do the things necessary to be worthy of the Spirit, I will be able to work my hardest and be guided by Him to have the week He wants me to have.

It was not a weekend I was expecting. But I'm so grateful that my testimony is firm and rooted. I'm grateful that I have a Saviour who already went through all of this so I can have his help when I need it. I'm grateful for the sacrament and that we get to take it each week to receive strength. I don't know what I would have done this weekend if I didn't have the knowledge of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I'm also grateful for all the people we had around us to lift us back up. :)

I love you and miss you all! I hope yous have the best week!!

Sister Montgomery

Herro!!!!

Man. It proper snowed yesterday here! It was awesome!! We had a lot of fun. But we also got really wet🙃

The most exciting news from this week is that Samuel passed his baptismal interview😁😁so he will be getting baptised on Saturday!! I am so excited for him! He has come so far! He had a really cool experience at church during gospel principles. We were talking about our favourite scriptures and Elder Kull was writing them on the board and we asked Sam what his favourite was and he could think of any so he just said "uhh....I like the story of David and Goliath. But I have no idea where it's at" so Elder Kull looked it up, smirked and wrote "1 Samuel 17" and everyone was like "woah!!!!!" And Sam was just so amazed! He wanted to say it was a coincidence but he knew it wasn't! And I know it wasn't either! I know God is aware of Sam! And is so proud of what he is doing right now!

"There are many accounts in the scriptures of those who have put their trust in the Lord and who have been helped and delivered by Him. Think of young David, who escaped certain death at the hand of the mighty Goliath by relying on the Lord. Consider Nephi, whose pleadings to God in faith brought deliverance from his brothers who sought to take his life. Remember young Joseph Smith, who prayerfully sought the Lord’s help. He was delivered from the power of darkness and received a miraculous answer. Each faced real and difficult challenges. Each acted in faith and put his trust in the Lord. Each received His help. And still in our day, God’s power and love are manifest in the lives of His children."
-Jean A. Stevens

Lastly, we were able to watch the broadcast with President Nelson and I just want everyone to know that I have a testimony that President Russel M. Nelson is a prophet of God!! He is exactly who Heavenly Father needs at this time! I'm so grateful for his counsel and his guidance!

I hope yous have a fantastic week!

Sister Montgomery

 Zone Conference from like 3 weeks ago

P Day at the South Shields beach

 Air Montgomery

Hiyer!!

I'm not going to lie. I don really remember a lot of what happened this week.

We had interviews with President and Sister Turvey which was really good! As always, I love them so much and they are such amazing people. The assistants gave some really good training on how we can better attack the day, find more solid investigators, and have more effective member visits. It was the most inspired training. Our Zone found so many investigators and there was such a sudden urgency for the work!! It was amazing!!

As far as investigators go, Patrick and Jadrana dropped us. They feel like we are trying to just change their faith and they don't want to do that. Which is really sad.

Samuel came to church again this week! He should be having his baptismal interview this week!!😁😁😁 we are so excited for him!!! He is also really excited as well. He talks about it all the time!! And he has already invited his friends!! Man he is awesome!!

"Face your doubts. Master your fears. 'Cast not away therefore your confidence.' Stay the course and see the beauty of life unfold for you....If God has told you something is right, if something is indeed true for you,  he will provide the way for you to accomplish it." -Elder Holland ("Cast Not Away Therefore Your Confidence" March 2000 Ensign)

Love you and miss you all! Have a great week!

Sister Montgomery

Herro!!!!

Hope all of your weeks were great. Mine sure was. We had Zone Conference this week which was so much fun! To be honest it was probably my favourite Zone Conference. I got so much out of it. Us and the Zone Leaders did our Zone training and it was lit. Like, not to be prideful or anything but seriously. It was good. We did it on "Church POP":

Pre-match (church lesson, church tour, finding a member to greet them, etc)

On the field (at church, answering their questions, having a member sit with them and invite them back for the next week, etc)

Post-match (follow up lesson, answering more questions, committing them to church next week, etc)

And then we gave all the missionaries fizzy pop. It was way good.

We were able to apply the training this week because we had Patrick and Jadrana (the couple Gateshead gave us) and Samuel (the bloke who gave me a chicken nugget on the metro) come to church this week!! They all had a great experience!! Especially Patrick and Jadrana! Jadrana kept telling us over and over again how much she loved it and that she really wants to come back next week!! 🎶There can be miracles!!!!🎶 man it got us so pumped for this week!

Lastly, I was sad to hear about the loss of our beloved Prophet Thomas S. Monson this week. He has been the Prophet for a big portion of my life so he will always have a special place in my heart. At the end of last year, starting in October, President Turvey gave us a Book of Mormon reading challenge. He challenged us to restart the Book of Mormon and read it as a mission and then finish by the end of the year. It was such a powerful experience to be able to read the Book of Mormon as a mission and I know it really strengthened us.

President Monson said this about the Book of Mormon:
"I speak about the power of the Book of Mormon and the critical need we have as members of this Church to study, ponder, and apply its teachings in our lives. The importance of having a firm and sure testimony of the Book of Mormon cannot be overstated.

We live in a time of great trouble and wickedness. What will protect us from the sin and evil so prevalent in the world today? I maintain that a strong testimony of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and of His gospel will help see us through to safety. If you are not reading the Book of Mormon each day, please do so. If you will read it prayerfully and with a sincere desire to know the truth, the Holy Ghost will manifest its truth to you. If it is true--and I solemnly testify that it is--then Joseph Smith was a prophet who saw God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ."

I know the Book of Mormon is true. I knew it was before I read it again but it's always nice to have reconfirmation of testimony!

I'm so grateful for the opportunity I have to share this with people!

I love you and miss you all!!

Sister Montgomery

2017 has been the most memorable year of my life and I am so grateful I got to spend the whole year as a missionary. What a wonderful privilege!

This week was pretty good. On Tuesday we had Boxing Day and since we weren't proselyting we ordered food and had a little party at the chapel. The food we ordered was 16 inch donner kebab wraps. Each. Do you know how much 16 inches is? A lot. And I ate the whole thing. It took me like an hour and a half but I did it. I was absolutely wrecked that night though. But it was worth it.

Wednesday we had District Meeting which was super good! The Gateshead elders gave us a couple to go by from Poland. Their names are Patrick and Jadrana. They are so cool! They love that their family can be together forever!

Friday we had MLC. It was probably my favourite MLC. They gave us SO many ideas for Zone training for Zone Conference tomorrow and we are STOKED. They also told us how we can have more effective exchanges with our teams. Also most of our council was on how we can strengthen the missionaries more spiritually.

We had a blitz with South Shields on Saturday! I was with Sister Caughill and she is seriously one of my favourite Sisters to go with because she is a boss and she is hilarious!! We had so much fun and I learned so much from her!

Yesterday was New Years Eve and we were asleep at 10:30.

But I did also finish the Book of Mormon last night! One of my favourite verses is at the end of the Book of Mormon:

Moroni 10:32
32 Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.

I know as we read the Book of Mormon daily and learn more of our Saviour Jesus Christ, we will want to become more like him and we will be more happy! His Atonement can heal us and change us into who Heavenly Father wants us to be!

I hope you all have a great week!! I love you and miss you all!!

Sister Montgomery

MLC

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!! I hope your day was merry and bright!! I heard Utah finally got some snow so that's good to hear that you had a White Christmas!!

This week was really good! We met with that guy who gave me the chicken nugget and wanted to know why we are so happy. He just asked a lot of questions to try and make us question our faith and we haven't really been able to get in contact with him since so that was kind of sad but then we met quite a few more people. We met this lady named Jacky and she was super cool! We met her on the street and she invited us back for the next day. She loved what we said about the Plan of Salvation and about how she can know this for herself! But then we came back the next day, and after like 5 minutes of contentious questions and statements she told us to get out (she hadn't been keeping the word of wisdom either) so that was fun. But we did meet a few more people who we are seeing this week. A few we feel pretty good about so hopefully it will all work out!!

We also had our missionary Christmas social this week!! It was soooo much fun!! Man I loved it!! Sister Pinther and I did a talent for the talent show. We caught skittles in our mouths. It was lit.

Yesterday was Christmas!! Oh man this has been the funniest Christmas I have ever had. Definitely one for the books and one I will never forget😂

Okay so no one from our ward signed up to have us or the elders over for Christmas. But our fearless District Leader, Elder Bailey, said that a member from his ward  invited us over as a district (shoutout to Elder Schmidt because he used to serve in Gateshead) so we spent the day with Brother Bell and the elders in Gateshead! But we had to leave at 4 because Brother Bell was going to his son's house. So then Sister Pinther and I went to the chapel to Skype our families! Definitely a highlight! Then we went to the elders' recent convert's house and spent the rest of the night with them, playing games and eating pancakes. Then the elders took us home. Then just after ten, they call us and say that the North Shields sisters can't find their flat key so they were going to pick them up and bring them to our flat. So that happened. And then this morning we got to sleep in until 8.30 which was really nice! And then this morning we were just chilling and then we noticed that there was a leak in our ceiling! Yay!! And then right after that we hear one of the North Shields sisters yell "YOURE KIDDING. I CHECKED THIS POCKET THREE TIMES LAST NIGHT" as we heard keys jingle in the room they were in😂 so that's been my second Christmas experience as a missionary hahaha. Man it's just been hilarious.

We don't really have plans today either and we aren't proselyting since it's Boxing Day so looks like it's going to be another day spent with just missionaries hahaha. But it will be fun.

Luke 2
8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field,
keeping watch over their flock by night.
9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the
Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you
good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which
is Christ the Lord.
12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped
in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly
host praising God, and saying,
14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Love you and miss you all!! Have a great week!!

Sister Montgomery

Mission Christmas Social

Christmas Eve

 Christmas Day in Gateshead

 Call home with my family

Hiyer!!!!!!

Good news: Sister Pinther and I are STAYING IN NEWCASTLE TOGETHER. I got to be her first companion and she will be my last!!!! 😊 I am so so lucky!! Unfortunately the trio did come to an end on Friday. Sister Ashcroft moved to Leeds to be in another trio haha. We really miss Sister Ashcroft!! It's weird with it just being us too but we still have fun. :)

As far as missionary work goes this week was pretty alright. We got a few new investigators this week who didn't come to church yesterday. But we'll keep working on it. :) we are seeing a guy named Samuel this week! He's super cool because he gave me a chicken nugget on the metro and then texted us later and said we made his night better by just making him laugh and he was like "Mormons are always the happiest people! There must be something to it so I would love to meet up and learn more!" And we were just like ".........yeah chure go on then." Man we are STOKED for him!!

We have the Christmas social with the missionaries this week and it's going to be lit.

Christmas is next week which I can't even believe.

The ward made us and the elders do a little show for the ward Christmas party on Saturday and it was one of the most embarrassing things I've ever done but it's aight

Anyway, that was pretty much my week! I hope you all have a great week and stay safe and remember who you are! :) TA RA

"Angels, shepherds, and Wise Men sought and found peace from their faith in Jesus Christ. So will you. The Savior’s birth is the gift that makes it possible for the Father to give us “peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come.” We shouted for joy in the spirit world when we heard of that promise. Peace and joy come to us again when we hear words sung proclaiming that God’s loving promise was kept: "All is calm, all is bright. …Glories stream from heaven afar; Heav’nly hosts sing Alleluia! Christ, the Savior, is born!" -President Henry B. Eyring

Sister Montgomery

Exchange with Sister Tautkus!!

Newcastle District 1.2

South Shields District

When you have to carry the whole team

Juicy Drop Pop Squad!!!!!😎

Herrooooo!!!

This week was way good!! We went on exchange with the Sister Training Leader Trainers. Sister Pinther and I went with Sister Farnsworth which was fun! Sister Farnsworth is such a spiritual power house! She just amazes me! We met so many cool people!

We also went on exchange with the Sisters in North Shields. I was with Sister Keung and she is just about the cutest thing! I loved being with her! We went to tea with the Dicolla's which is an Italian family! So of course I loved the food they gave me. :) I was absolutely stuffed! It was nice to actually be full after a tea appointment haha.

We got a new investigator named Steven! He is so cool! He has been through so much and he is so prepared to receive the Gospel!! He came to church yesterday! So did Lawrence! It was a miracle! We also had another lady at church named Susan. She was a proper miracle! Sister Pinther and I found her when we were on exchange at the beginning of the transfer. We got in contact with her again and taught her at the church on Thursday and it was one of the most spiritual lessons I have ever taught! It was so amazing! She even came to church and the members were ACE at fellowshipping her!! But...She wouldn't accept a baptismal date and she doesn't want to meet with us anymore. Like she felt the spirit on high voltage, she felt hope that she would see her mom again, we told her to pray about her struggle with work and she did and she said it helped, she had the most VIP experience at church and she doesn't want to meet anymore. Like uh........why not? I divent na

But it was still a good week! We went to Bambrugh Castle (no idea if that's how it's spelled) today and wow!! It was so pretty! Plus we went to the beach and it was snowing😊

Transfers are this week!! Can you believe it?? I will be finding out where I will be spending the rest of my mission! I would LOVE to stay in Newcastle but I've already spent two transfers here and we all know that's long enough for me.

Anyway, hope yous have a great week!! Love you all!!

Sister Montgomery

I didn't know she was taking a picture...

snow angels!!!

the castle (we met a guy from Salt Lake named Gus here)

The closest I get to Snowboarding

Good news. President called us on Thursday morning and told us that Sister Pinther will be staying with us until the end of the transfer!!!!! YES!! And let me tell you we are having the time of our lives!! Because we are finding so much joy in working hard!!

But this week has been pretty good. All of our investigators have decided to harden their hearts. 😒  but it's okay because all three of us can feel something good coming!! Just as long as we keep going and keep working hard we will see success. :)

We went to MLC on Friday which way fun!! It was a Christmas MLC which made it even better. And my companions and I got matching Christmas jumpers which made it even BETTER.

It snowed SO MUCH this week!!!!!!! Well, actually it only snowed on Thursday. BUT. It was like proper snow. It didn't stay. But we had fun for like 2-3 hours man it was great. We had a snow ball fight and built a snowman. :)

Today we went to a place called Holy Island! It's so pretty! It was so much fun!! England is so beautiful!!!!

D&C 18:10-16
10 Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God;
11 For, behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh;
wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent
and come unto him.
12 And he hath risen again from the dead, that he might bring all men
unto him, on conditions of repentance.
13 And how great is his joy in the soul that repenteth!
14 Wherefore, you are called to cry repentance unto this people.
15 And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying
repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me,
how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!
16 And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have
brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your
joy if you should bring many souls unto me!

I love you and miss you all!! Make sure to light the world everyday!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sister Montgomery

SNOW ❄️

Our snowman Jamie

We are

MLC

Sunderland Zone Leadership (Sister Pinther, me, Sister Ashcroft,

Elder Schmidt, Elder Kull)

Holy Island!!!

K so we had Zone Conference on Tuesday which was a lot of fun! President Turvey talked a lot about how we are going to have a "white Christmas" this year because of all the baptisms we will see! We talked about how we can treat our investigators as sacred gifts so they really feel the love that comes from the Gospel!

Wednesday...We got a call from President saying we needed to go down to Sunderland because one of the sisters was going to the office to stay there for a bit so that meant that we needed to be with Sister Pinther. So you know what that meant?! I got to be companions with Sister Pinther again for a week!!!! Man it was so much fun to be in a trio with Sister Ashcroft and Sister Pinther. It was seriously one of the funniest weeks of my mission! Unfortunately the three amigos are being split because President told Sister Pinther yesterday that she will be moving down to Pontefract to help out some sisters. Bless her, it's only the third week and she is moving to her third area of the transfer haha. But I'm super excited for her because I love Pontefract!!

Thursday was good because it was Thanksgiving. But it was sad because England doesn't celebrate. But I did get fed so that was good. We also went on exchange with the Chinese sisters! I was with Sister Huang and she is the cutest! She is such a stellar missionary!

Sunday was a super funny day. We went to go see one of our investigators but he wasn't in so we went and talked to a bunch of guys cleaning leaves outside his flat complex. We showed them the Light the World video and they all loved it! It was hilarious! We got three return appointments with them! One of them, his name is Kevin, we saw him yesterday and scheduled him for baptism! It's going to be a white Christmas for him!❄️ we also got stopped by this guy who just started preaching to us but it was hard to focus because he had snot dripping from his nose the whole time. Then he asked us what new information we learned from him and we told him nothing. So we taught him some things.

We had interviews yesterday so that's why I'm emailing today but interviews were really good! I always really enjoy talking to President and Sister Turvey!

Also I have a cold again.

Hope yous have a great week! Love you all!

Sister Montgomery

Zone Thanksgiving Dinner

Zone Conference

 The start of the legendary trio

We stole the Zone Leaders car

Hey hey hey it's Sister Monty!!

K. Wow. This might be a littler longer email. Sorry. Not really. Because it's going to be a good email!

So I'll start with Saturday!! WE GOT TO GO TO THE TEMPLE. Oh wow it was the most amazing experience!! It was so special to see Amanda do baptisms for those who have passed on. She absolutely loved it! I had a special experience of my own as well! I was able to be baptized for someone who I KNOW accepted the Gospel on the other side. What a neat feeling that was! The Spirit of Elijah is so precious! We got to just sit in the temple for a long time which was amazing as well! I just soaked it all in because I missed it so much! It was so fun to go back to Preston and see the MTC as well! I can't believe how time has flown! When we left I gave the temple a hug.

Then that night we got TRANSFER CALLS. I'm STAYING WITH SISTER ASHCROFT IN NEWCASTLE 🎉 We were so happy!! Also, GREAT NEWS. Sister Pinther came to the Zone!!!!!!!!!!! I was SO excited when they announced that! We haven't served around each other since I trained her!

We had to go on a three day exchange with her and her companion though this week because there was a lot going on in their companionship. Oh bless it was the craziest week. But it was so fun to spend time with her and to be her companion again!! We had so much fun reminiscing about the good ol days in Grimsby!!!!

Yesterday Lawrence was able to come to church which was SO GOOD. Rachel moved to North Shields so she is no longer in our area but we know the North Shield sisters will talk great care of her! :) plus she is still in the stake so we can go on exchange and see her so it's alright. :)

This week is THANKSGIVING. We are having a thanksgiving dinner today for p day and I'm stoked! A member is having us over on Thursday but I don't know if she remembered it's Thanksgiving but hey at least I won't have to cook. :)

Alma 26:12
12 Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.

Hope yous all have a fantastic week!!!!!!!! :)

Sister Montgomery

The temple with Amanda and the Stobbs!!💕

transfer day😭

some things never change