September 29, 2014

TRANSFER NEWS! 

I am staying here in the Overlook ward with Sister Finnell.  Woohoo! I honestly didn't feel anything coming and would have been surprised if anything changed.  I am really happy to be staying here an d working in this ward.  This is such a good area.  

First things first! KARL AND BECCA! I love these two people so much.  They both came to church yesterday and stayed all 3 hours.  They brought both of their kids and they did really well for their first time. And when I say they I really mean Cammie their 2 year old. I sometimes forget they have another child because he is so quiet and calm compared to Cammie. She is cray cray to the max.  Karl and Becca are progressing really well.  I forgot if I mentioned this or not, but Karl was married before and the divorce hasn't been finalized yet.  So they can't get baptized until the divorce is finalized and they are married. So that might put a little damper on the baptism date. But cross your fingers and pray that it all works out.  Also, Karl gave us a call this week to tell us that he lost his job. WHY DOES THIS ALWAYS HAPPEN TO OUR INVESTIGATORS.  I feel awful.  We come in and we promise them all of these blessings then boom! They have a miscarriage, he is threatened to be kicked out, loses his job, breaks a finger, Cammie gets deathly ill.  Like what the heck! Satan, calm yourself down! I was thinking about that this morning and I came across Ether12:12 that reads "  For if there be no faith among the children of men God can do no miracle among them.  Wherefore, he showed not himself until after their faith."  They just need to keep holding on.  Because God will not show himself until after the trial of their faith.  We just need to keep promising them blessings and building their faith.  We just need to trust that God knows. He has a plan. AND IT WILL ALL WORK OUT.  It always does.  and It always will. 

Meet the Mormons.  Get this.  They had a special viewing for missionaries.  Waddduupp! It is incredible. Anyone and everyone needs to see this film.  It was so good.  AH! I can't wait for all of you to see it.  My friend Kate Hargadon from BYU is in it :)  She traveled around Napal before she went to BYU and they feature a man from Napal in the movie.  They also feature a missionary mom and lets be real. I bawled through that whole thing.  It just brought me back to the beginning of my mission.  And getting ready to come out and everything. They also played a clip from Elder Holland talking about the movie and they showed a clip of test audiences not of our faith discussing the film.  The discussion was really neat.  Many people said that if missionaries were to come knocking on their door they would be a lot more open and willing to let missionaries in. One lady said that her husband died two years ago and she has taken her 14 year old son to every church but the Mormon church and she was so touched by the movie that she said she was planning on going to church that Sunday.  This has the potential to do a lot of good. I am excited and hope it gets to come to Montana. 

This week Sister Finnell and I had a lesson with a new investigator and we were trying to find a member to come with us.  I swear, we called a million different people to see if anyone could come. NO ONE.  After awhile of making calls and racking our brains for someone to bring, I finally was like, okay obviously Heavenly Father has someone very specific in mind.  And poof! A semi less active lady we are working with came to mind.  We called her up and she was so excited to come. Her testimony is amazing. She has gone through so much in her life, its the social aspect of church that is difficult for her.  She came with us to the lesson and the investigator didn't show. lame.  But we decided to drag her to another potential investigators house and BOOM! There was a connection.  They both hit it off really well. And get this.  It was Penny, The less active's, birthday! She said, " Well I don't see a better way to celebrate my birthday than to serve my Heavenly Father." Shut up. You are not real, Penny. Who are you?  A blessing of the Lord, that is what you are.

 The woman we met with is Brenda.  She is 54 and the sweetest lady of all time.  It was so sad, she got jumped this past week by 5 chicks and got beat up pretty bad.  Her face was all black and blue, and she has a couple broken ribs.  But, she said that she had been praying for guidance and direction because she has never been baptized and she really feels like that is something she needs to do.  She also has been through so much in her life.  A mission has just shown me that my life is a piece of cake.  The things that I thought were hard in my life are nothing compared to the lives of those I have met.  People whose lives have been full of abuse, rape, addictions, death, you name it, they have been through it.  And here I am complaining that I don't have enough money to get my hair cut.  Geez.  I have so much to be thankful for. I have no reason to ever complain or whine about my life. Because my life is great.  I have been so blessed.  

Later in the week we brought the Elders over to give Brenda a blessing.  She is so cute and sweet to us. She always calls Sister Finnell and I her, "baby girls"  or says, " thank you my girl, my baby girl." hahah I love it.   We came over and she immediately took us down stairs to where her step son passed away and asked us to bless the room. The poor woman just cried and cried as she told us of the turmoil she went through with his passing.  She got on her knees and took our hands. I kind of looked at the Elders like, what are we supposed to do....hahaha but I was like, okay Brenda, if you want to make up your own ordinance, we will do it for you. We will hold hands around your sons room and pray. hahahahahaha so we prayed for her as she just cried and cried and cried.  She kept saying that she knew we were from God.  After the prayer we sat in silence for a little as she cried when the phone rang.  It was her doctor and no lie this is what was said, " Hello?  Hello, I am sorry I am here with my Mormon people and we are praying in my dead son's room.  Yes, I am here with my MORMON PEOPLE and we are praying in my dead son's room.  So you will have to forgive me because I am emotional." Oh Brenda. I love you. She later asked what she should do when she met the Bishop at church.  We told her she could just shake his hand.  And she said, " I am going to hug him.  Just you wait. I am going to hug the Bishop! Everyone is going to be like, whoa there Crazy Brenda! You are hugging the Bishop! but I am going to.  Just watch."  hahahaha I LOVE THIS WOMAN! She is so wonderful and so ready for the gospel. She is so open and prepared to hear what the Lord has in store for her.

Can we please just talk about how wonderful the Women's Broadcast was?  It was awesome. I know people say this all the time, but I sat there in disbelief as these amazing speakers spoke to all of us, because I felt like they were addressing my every concern and every doubt and question that I had.  I had to look around me every once in awhile and make sure that I wasn't crazy or something.  That meeting that night was a manifestation to me that the Lord knows us.  He truly knows the thoughts and feelings in our heart and mind. He knows our worries and concerns and He. Is. There.  He loves us and is there for us.  He reaches out to  us in small and simple ways to tell us he cares. I know he does.  No matter how many times the adversary tells me He doesn't, and that I am just one out of millions and billions of people.  The Lord has shown me time and time again that I matter to Him.  And I know that I do.  I love Him.  

The Elders and Sister Finnell and I sang for ward conference yesterday.  Swindled.  The ward has been swindled.  Hahaha.  Tears were shed, hugs were given.  Success. 

This gospel is so goooooood! The Book of Mormon is the word of God. Do we realize that?  We hold in our hands the literal words of God.  HELLO! People! Wake up and read the book! I was reading the other day and came across Mosiah 16:9  " He is the light and the life of the world. Yea, a light that is endless that can never be darkened."  Darkness can never over rule light.  But light will always over rule the darkness. Jesus Christ is light.  He is perfect light that casts away the darkness ALWAYS.  He will always cast away the darkness.  Whatever darkness may be apart of our life,  if we allow Jesus in our hearts, there can be no darkness. The light over rules the darkness. There will be no room for it. Hand it over. Let Him take it.  I love my Savior. I love the Book of Mormon. I love this gospel.  Nothing can take away the feelings I have felt  and the things I know to be true.  This gospel is happiness.  It is peace.  It is comfort and assurance.  What an amazing opportunity I have to bring that to the lives of so many that have lost hope. My life rocks. 

I love you all and miss you! Have fun watching conference! We are watching it together! :)

LOVE YOU! 

Sister Montana Moline