Week 43!

August 11th, 2014

Well, this week has been kind of slow and kind of interesting and kind of bi-polar!

We had tons of fun Monday and had a regular P-day and then started down to Charleston and stopped in Columbia at the Riverbanks Zoo for a couple hours and got funnel cake and dippin' dots and rode the carousel and saw lots of animals. :) Then we drove down to Charleston, ate at Taco Bell and went to the James Island Sister's apartment and spent the night then got up reeeeeeally early and drove down to Charleston (in town) and got labs down then went to the Charleston aquarium and went to lunch with a member from Sister Johnson's old area, Sister Midgett at a really nice restaurant called California Dreamin'. That was great, then we rushed back into town just to find no parking and had to pay for a parking garage and then got in to find they hadn't ran my insurance so i got my MRI almost an hour late and then the phlebotomoist completely  ruined my arm by stabbing the needle in and out of one spot for about 30 seconds and then without finding the vain, shot my arm up with saline!!!! wow... but i think the MRI went well and i got to listen to Hilary Weeks the whole time :) Then we went to the Charleston Market which used to be the old slave market way back when and i got this really cool ring made out of a 1903 spoon. :) Then we drove past rainbow Row and went and walked around waterfront park which used to be a Gallows that they used to ward off pirates (they say its haunted :)) and drove home, and ate at Ihop on the way. We ended up getting home at 11!!! crazy couple of days that felt like a week! :) then we stayed in Wednesday, doctors orders from the nurse to recover from the stress and then I got sick again Thursday... needless to say we didn't get much done this week yikes! And then on Wednesday night Sister Johnson asked me to take a wack at cutting her hair. So I did and it actually turned out really cute! (Don't be alarmed at how short it is, she said she wanted it boyishly short). But it was a good week that I got to know Sister Johnson a lot better which was fun :) So yeah :) That was my week! Love you!

~Sister Dominique Sage Montoya

Week 42!

August 4th, 2014

This week was really great! we had a great Monday and then had exchanges on Tuesday with the Sister Training Leaders here in Newberry. it was great and we ended up getting a full 20 lessons this week even in spite of Sister Johnson getting sick Saturday!... We had a great meeting on Friday as well and it was really cool because the Zone Leaders anonymously talked about Sister Johnson and I. They were talking about how we can get our zone more in unity and saying that how we can take care of "the one" is through companions and said that there was actually a companionship who just serve each other and who are the happiest they've been on their mission and its because of that service! The Sister training Leaders came to us later and told us that it was indeed us :) We have really had a great week and i am excited because today we are going to the Columbia Zoo and then heading down to Charleston and are spending the Night at the James Island Sisters home and then getting my medical stuff done and in between appointments we are going to have fun in Charleston :) it'll be so great! Well I love you all!! keep me in your prayers please that all will go well with my MRI and that I will get healing up from my surgery soon :) I love you! 

Love, Sister Dominique Sage Montoya :)

Week 41!

July 28, 2014

So this week was pretty slow. i got sick AGAIN, but this time it at least wasnt a week long it was just a couple days. But during that time, my companion and i got really close and she made me this really sweet mission statement of how i should feel about myself. It was really cool though because she had a dream about making it about 2 months before she even came on her mission! she weird right? i think we are going to be great friends for a long time after our missions :)  Well after i was sick we got to go to Whitmire which is a part of my area that missionaries havent been to in a year! And we met this sweet lady who is a Less Active and she said she was thinking about the missionaries and praying we would come see her It was a miracle that we even got to her house though because she moved and no one knew where she was so we asked around by her house and her neighbor told us where she moved to! it was great :) it was a true miracle and one guy we talked to was really cool. i told the gospel had changed my life and he said "Oh I know, i can tell" It was really amazing. I also got to make a cake for one of our elders Birthdays. there are little fish that are sprinkles on the cake so it makes it a really cool "deep sea" looking cake haha.... it was fun to make and everyone deserves a cake on their birthday so yeah. but I had a great week. Hope you all have had a wonderful JULY!!!! love you!!!

~Sister Dominique Sage Montoya

Week 40!

July 21, 2014

Well this week has been really great, we haven't done much honestly but we definitely broadened our teaching pool by getting some awesome new investigators!!! :) But this week we continued teaching Zoey and Jasmine but they sure are some tough cookies to crack for such young girls. And it was really great because last monday I heard from a few of my investigators from Cowpens which was pretty cool :) and we got to have some definite experience with people trying to Bible Bash all day on Tuesday when a PM/LA told us they didnt want us to share anymore with us because the Book of Mormon is a lie and an abomination and that we are just poor misguided dears.... i started crying, not because what she said hurt my feelings but because i have taught her for 3 months and gotten a relationship with her and I wanted so badly to see them be a part of the church... but i guess they're not ready and then it happened with our very next lesson as well.... and then Tommy told us he wasnt sure is christ really was sinless if the word of wisdom is true because he drank wine... Tuesday was quite the day... but the rest of the week was really great :) and we were able to have such a miracle on wedensday in finding out greatest new investigator, Kiara. she is so wonderful and let us in to teach her while she was cooking! :)and then on Friday we had an awesome pioneer day ward social where we played a lot of pioneer games and we got to be a part of a really fun skit and the did fake hunting with nerf guns and an artist competition and cobler and it was wonderful!!!  But overall it was a great week even though friday and saturday i was sick with food poisoning.... not fun but it was a good week..... :) Love you all!!

Love, Sister Dominique Sage Montoya

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!