Temple trip

Yesterday I drove to the temple in Washington D.C. It took about an hour and a half to get there because I missed the highway entrance I needed. I went to Washington D.C., but the temple is actually in Kensington, Maryland, not in D.C., so that didn't do me much good.

When I got to the temple I was impressed again by how beautiful it is, inside and out. Once inside, I felt like I was home... Which is weird, because Fairfax, Virginia is technically my "home." But being inside the temple felt more familiar to me and more like home than my parents' home in Fairfax. Part of that is because I work in the temple every Saturday in Rexburg for 6 hours, so it has a certain familiarity to it. But just the feeling inside the temple, the peace and serenity, made me feel like I was somewhere comfortable where I belonged. I love going to the temple.

After spending a while in the temple it was time to go back outside and face the real world. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the Festival of Lights was still going on at the temple visitor's center. The trees were laced with bright blue and green and purple and red lights, and it looks kind of like Candy Land would look like if it really existed.

Driving home in Virginia/Maryland/D.C. traffic was hectic and chaotic, and made me want to pull all my hair out. But at last I got home and could spend some time with my mom and baby brother. My dad and other two brothers are in Florida at a soccer tournament.

Today was a good day. I went to church and Jenny Oaks Baker played her violin. We had our Christmas program today because church was canceled last week. Jenny is a world renowned violinist, and she played when I was at the MTC before my mission and also when I was in Idaho last winter in a concert for the school. She goes to church with my parents. So when she walked up to play I was very excited. It was good. We're going to watch her play this Saturday at the temple visitor's center in D.C. I like good music.

It's been a while

The last week of school was pretty enjoyable. Monday's ward talent show was definitely a special treat. Jogal and his roommates did the "All the Single Ladies Dance," and I think that was one of the best moments of my life. I've seen the recording but it's so much better live. Will sang "We're so Far Away" by Mae and Erika played the piano. They were amazing and I got chills. I played guitar and sang "Crush'd" by Say Anything.

The rest of the week was mostly writing essays.

This weekend I went to my last companion from my mission's wedding. Chris Perkins, another mission friend, and I drove down to Salt Lake on Thursday night for the wedding. Corey and his wife are really cute together. We saw them get sealed for time and all eternity in the Salt Lake Temple, after freaking out and thinking we would be late. We got there late, but so did they, so we didn't miss it. It was a Christmas miracle. We stayed at the temple until noon, then we went to a luncheon for them, spent time with them at her grandparent's house, and helped decorate their reception a little bit. It was fun. At 11:00 I got on a plane and flew to New York. My flight to D.C. was cancelled because of a huge snow storm, so in New York I took a taxi to Penn Station. The taxi driver was nice and he pointed out Madison Square Gardens and Macey's and some other cool things in NYC. I jumped on a train from there and got to D.C. around noon Saturday, and my dad picked me up. It was snowing like crazy and continued to snow all day. I was supposed to go on a double date with Nate Eaton in D.C. and see Jenny Oaks Baker play the violin, but everything was cancelled because of the blizzard. That's OK. Church was canceled today but the bishop authorized us to perform the sacrament in our own homes. I think that's cool.

Encouragement in my homework

"However dim our days... may seem, they have been a lot darker for the Savior of the world. As a reminder of those days, Jesus has chosen, even in a resurrected, otherwise perfected body, to retain for the benefit of His disciples the wounds in His hands and in His feet and in His side--signs, if you will, that painful things happen even to the pure and the perfect; signs, if you will, that pain in this world is NOT evidence that God doesn't love you; signs, if you will, that problems pass and happiness can be ours.. it is the wounded Christ who is the Captain of our souls, He who yet bears the scars of our forgiveness, the lesions of His love and humility, the torn flesh of obedience and sacrifice."

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of 12 Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Fireflies

Today was fun. I did some homework this morning (surprise!) and I went to the mall with my mom and grandma. I got some cool new shoes that I like and I want to wear all the time, even when I'm sleeping. Oh, but I won't.

My grandma got lost at the mall but we found her. Thank goodness. She didn't bring her phone.

It's nice to be around my family, I feel so at home, like the song says:

Home is a special kind of feeling
The feeling of a place where you belong
A feeling that the world is left behind you
Like a shelter from your cares that seems to want you
to be there.
("Home is a Special Kind of Feeling")

I really like the last two lines.

I like being at home. I have time to enjoy things while I'm here. If only I had my guitar... But that isn't really a big deal. Now I can teach myself the piano! Ha.

I love you

This is Logan. He turned one yesterday and he is my youngest brother. For his birthday, Mom and Grandma picked out this "CD Player" for babies that plays music.

He loves it very much and likes to press the same button over and over. When it plays music, he gets excited and dances. He has two different dances. One is to nod his head from side to side, and the other is to bounce up and down.

Today, he got dressed up real nice for Church. He wasn't happy in the picture.



I love him.

Joy

Today has proven to been an interesting day in the life of Matt Montoya. Only after spending time pondering the important things of life, such as love, relationships, spirituality, and personal accountability, I learned something important about the way we treat other people.

You see, this girl was mean to me. I called her and called her and she wasn't calling back, and then she called back but I was in choir so I couldn't answer, then I called her and she didn't answer. So, long story short, she wasn't getting back to me.

But I have a good roommate, Nate. He taught me to never burn bridges, ever. So I was very civil in my text messages to her this evening, and she said she was very busy and forgot to text me back, and yes she was working on Thursday night. So she obviously had no interest in meeting me further because she forgot to text me back, but I was very civil to her. I even said "let me know if you ever want to do something," which I found hard to do but I did it anyways, knowing full well it won't happen. Nate said it was nice to say, and Noel and Hailey backed it up. She obviously appreciated this civility and told me "not to feel like a creeper" for calling her so much (I told her I felt creepy after calling her a bunch of times), and so I felt clean and good about things.

I am reading The Book of Mormon in 2 Nephi 2 and I happened upon verse 25:
"Adam fell that men might be, and men are that they might have joy."

The words are too profound for me to have comprehended them in the past, even as a missionary. The purpose of life is joy. We are on the earth to experience joy. We overcome trials and temptations so that we will one day be recompensed with joy. If we are not experiencing joy, we are missing out on the purpose of life. I could have sulked on the fact that I was being rejected, but instead I find myself at peace for not being bitter about it.

So next time you curse your luck, and shake your fist at the sky, remember that you are here to have joy. Unpleasantness and heartache and disappointment are essential for our growth, for "there must be opposition in all things" (2 Ne. 2:11). Let us enjoy the journey, and see beauty even in the thorns of life. For all of this, there is a reward. I'm tremendously grateful for lessons learned today.