Week 39!

July 14th, 2014

Well this week has been great! Tuesday we had interviews and ZTM and then Sister johnson and i started a 40 day fast from distractions and worldly things so we are planning on expecting miracles and on seeing lots of the spirit in our lives. i am really loving it so far :) then on Saturday we got to go to the temple for a young man who just returned from less activity and is now going on a mission to Redlands California!!! I am so proud of him :) Sunday was great too and i found out that if i dont get transferred i get to sing "savior redeemer of my soul" on the 10th of August with violin and everything!!!! :) I am so excited for it! Also something new is that i am due for my yearly MRI and I get to go to Charleston because the only MRI machine that carries my specific type of MRI is in Charleston so that will be fun :) But it was a great week! we also started teaching our ward mission leaders daughters, Zoey and Jasmine, so please pray for them, especially Jasmine that she will be open and her heart will softe. Byron is good but he needs to figure out where his loyalties lie. he still is really attached to his old church..... grr but we'll get him soon! Kepp praying! i love you all!

Love, sister Dominique Sage Montoya

Week 38!

July 7th 2014

Well this week was pretty good :) we had a lot of crazy experiences!!!! like we went to a less actives home and she answered the door in full garments and nothing else on!!! and she proceeded to invite us in and basically make us stay there with her in her very torn, very old garments..... oh it was a sight to behold!!!! but so funny oh my goodness!!!! I'm pretty sure we were scarred for life!!! then Thursday we had a mission tour for the new mission president, Judd Turner! he and his wife are so sweet i am so excited to get to know them better and i get to sit down with President Turner tomorrow for interviews :) Michelle is doing great and we are going to teach her the lessons over again! OH!!!! and we had a letter sent out from the 1st presidency that lesson 5- Laws and ordinances is now required for Baptism!!!!! and that missionaries are to continue teaching and having stewardship over Recent Converts for 1 year after baptism!!!! crazy  change but it will be good i think :) it will actually ensure that Recent Converts actually get the new member lessons and that they will ALSO get home taught . not one or the other. :) and i think including L5 in Baptismal requirements will reduce the amount of people who get baptized into less activity. but it was so great! Kaitlyn Archey and Byron were both at church today!!! it was great :) and Friday for the 4th we had dinner at the Hallenbecks and then got to go to bed early for lock down and we taped glow sticks to our ceiling fan as our own makeshift fireworks haha  it was pretty great! :) then yesterday we had a great day and we finally got our new maps of the area!!!! and then as we were knocking this apartment complex I noticed a young woman sitting on the side of the road with her baby so we stopped but she only spoke Spanish and the elders weren't answering to translate so we called sister Torres and her mom was able to counsel her and we let her use our phone to call her husband :) we were so happy that she was able to work things out and we gave her a book of mormon and a card so that she could have the gospel too :) but it was a great week!!! and i am excited for this week as well! :) love ya'll!!!! :) have a great week!

Week 37!

June 30th 2014

This week has been great!!! :) We said goodbye to Sister Bell and also to President and Sister Holm and had lots of tears, but good tears for the wonderful memories i had with all of them. i cried at transfers with sister Bell and at Zone conference with President and SIster Holm and i have my new companion SIster Johnson! She is from Provo Utah, Imagine that!! We have already have lots of adventures, like us getting lost, and a mailbox attacking out car and going down tiny roads with dead ends so its been great thus far :) oh yes and I AM FINALLY SENIOR COMPANION so i get to DRIVE!!!!!!! i am so happy :)  i have been wanting to drive for a long time :) oh yes another adventure was we were leaving a less actives house and there was a giant rhino looking bug on my headrest and sister johnson pointed it out so i threw the car into park and jumped out!!!! here is the bug :) and also we had a great Stake Conference but Sadly Byron didnt come. we are hoping he comes. Please pray for him that he will want to get baptized. Well President Turner comes in TODAY!!!!!!! Im excited and nervous. so many new things :) Well, happy 4th of JUly!!!!! I love you all!!!!! :) 

Sister Dominique Sage Montoya 

my district

t-shirts we made for Pres and Sis Holm

FOOD AT SHEALY'S!!!! we have to go there when you come and get me! :) 

eating at Shealys with the Aultmans in Batesburg

THIS KID LOOKS JUST LIKE UNCLE DAVE WHEN HE WAS A BABY!!!!! :)

I smashed this in her face :) 

Someone taped a pass a long card to their door that we had left a few weeks ago :)

spa night for me!!!!!! :) 

Week 36!

June 23rd 2014

This week was good! monday we went to a Excommunicated members house for FHE she is awesome and is trying to return to be a member :) and OH MY GOODNESS we are having tacos SEVEN times in one week!!!! everyone just wanted to make us tacos haha :) so we had a wonderful lesson with Sister Chavez and Christie Smith. it was kind of a miracle actually because the original fellowshipper we had planned was busy so we went to sister Chavez as a back up temporary fellowshipper and she was EXACTLY what Christie needed!!! she ended up opening up to her more than she has any missionaries before!!! we have a lot of hope for her ;) Pray for Christie Smith! :) then after our lesson with her had had TACO SALAD at the relief society activity on Visiting Teaching. then Wednesday Sister Bell went to the dentists and it was Free just like mine was when i went!!!! that dentist is so awesome! :) and then we had a lesson and Dinner with Byron at the Roberts with them and Sister Barr as well! it was so awesome! :) it went so well and i really feel lik he is soooooo close to getting baptized!!!!! Please pray for him too to be able to know he needs to get BAPTIZED!!! :) then thursday we had a few lessons in the morning with Michelle Robinson and April Dewalt and then did weekly planning because we had Zone Conference Friday. but we also go to help Sister Archey with her baby shower as well thursday we helped her make games and make party favors. then friday was Zone Conference. I HAVE NEVER CRIED SO MUCH IN MY WHOLE LIFE!!!! president Holm is leaving and we are getting a new mission president in july and this was really like his farewell... i didnt realize how much i have looked up to Sister Holm and how much President Holm has helped me grow....Saturday we went to Batesburg and Saluda..... HOLY COW!!!! our area is so huge haha... they took us to eat at Shealy's Bar-b q and i guess the President at there its so good, (which it is!) its like an all southern, way better, golden Corral :) and we went to see a referral ad the house was destroyed!!!!  like walls tore down and parts lying everywhere! so we went and knocked all the neighbors to see what happened and no one answered.... bummer.... but it was  really cool because we had members with us the whole time and we made it an adventure then Sunday was church :) it was good til a poor kid in primary puked all over half the kids in there and they had to clear out that half of the church to clean it haha... but then we went to the Baby shower and i got to basically run all the games and then we taught them a lesson :) it was a great last week with Sister Bell :) i will miss her but i am excited for a new companion to get this area moving oh! and we're getting new maps this week!!!! yay!!!! :) love you all!!!! :) 

~Sister Montoya

Week 35!

Hello Everyone! You'll never believe it! Sister Bell was sick this week!! We have literally been in all months!! Its awful! we did have some really great developments though :) I sang in church on Monday and Friday Sister Bell was still sick so we took a sick day at the Hallenbecks and we painted our toes sparkly and Sister Bell got to sleep without me being super bored and then we had a steak dinner that evening with them and a part member family which was really cool :) and Also, Wednesday it was sad because we had to cancel our appointment with Byron but when I called to cancel I had a lesson on the phone with him and He told us that he is going to start coming to at least sacrament every Sunday and trying to stay for all 3 hours every 3rd sunday! I am so excited! and we are having dinner with him and the old bishop and his wife Wednesday!!! ) its going to be great!!! Please pray that he will have a desire to be baptized and also that I don't get sick again!!! Blah....But we really do have a ton  of dinners this week!! We are booked with lunches and dinners all the way until transfers on th 25th!!!  haha... But im sad this next week is Transfers :( ive really gotten to like Sister Bell a lot and we are really good friends! In fact she asked me last night to come teach her Non-member dad the missionary lessons after I get off my mission :) and its been great switching off playing nurse for each other even though we cant go out. But I also got to sing in church a duet with Sister Hallenbeck on Sunday :) We sang a childs prayer :) that seems to be a favorite for me to sing in this ward :) haha not sure why but its ok cuz its a good song :) OH! And Yesterday for Fathers Day Sister Bell and I got to talk to our families :) We only had 15 minutes but I felt very lucky because the only reason we got to call was so sister bell could invite her dad to be baptized and I got to call cuz I am her companion so it would be fair :) it was really great :) But it was a good week!! Love you all!!!!! :)
<3 Sister Dominique Sage Montoya

Week 34!

June 9th, 2014

Well, this week has been rather insane.

I was sick most of the week, and then Tuesday they had the Sister Training Leaders do an emergency exchange so that we could get a little work done in our area instead of just sitting in the house all day. Which I still sat in the house all day and slept and was sick but at least Sister Bell could get some things done. Wednesday I was feeling well enough that we went and tried to do a little bit and rested when I needed it. And then Thursday I really started to feel better and we got to teach Byron, who the stinker is still attached o his Lutheran church friends so has only committed to come to our church every 3rd sunday... blah.... but he is still really close to baptism and I have full faith in him that we will come around. Friday we got to help someone not to drugs and he gave us his weed and his cigarettes and we got to destroy them!!! :) And then Saturday we got to see the Archey kids and then go over to the Reids in our ward and see their glow in the dark fish and hear this really cute story about their daughter, the husband went over to the daughter (Ta'a) while she was on the couch and video taped her as he told her to repeat after him. He said "I love my daddy and I will always love him even when I am a teenager", and she repeated It and then he said "And I will live with him forever and always be his girl" and she repeated it and then he said "And I will not like stinky boys!" and she WOULD NOT repeat it for ANYTHING they offered her! It was really funny :) Then Sunday we  put this really awesome guy on date- Travis :) we are so excited about him! He's the guy who called out "Joseph Smith right" that I ran down and talked to :) And are going to start teaching this Less actives daughter so that maybe they can both start coming to church together. :) But its been a good week. Happy Fathers day this week to all the dads out there and especially to the Men in my life who have made such an impact on me, friends, and family - dads or not :) Love you guys!

Love, Sister Dominique Sage Montoya

Week 33!

June 2nd, 2014, 8 MONTHS!!

Well the surprise party for sister Bell was a success! we had a lot of fun and all 18 people showed up. it was pretty great. So Tuesday we had DDM and it was Sister Bells Birthday and we had a great day, Saturday we went to Prosperity and Little Mountain and had a lot of great lessons but alas that was the start of me getting sick AGAIN ugh..... I am really sick and tired of being sick and tired!!.....Grrrr darn Satan trying to bring me down!! Well I got sick but pushed through it Saturday then Sunday I was really sick with a 100 degree fever but we went to church because Byron was there and we wanted to be there for him.. which was awesome!!! :) then we stayed home the rest of the day and I am sick again today :P please keep me in your prayers that I will feel better and have a healthier 2nd half of my mission please..... well I love you all!! :)

~Love Sister Montoya