The day after Christmas we were able to Skype with Elder Mangum in Argentina. It was the best part of the holidays. It was so great to see his fuzzy picture and hear his voice. Because of the remote part of Argentina they are in and the lack of members and limited technology in the area, we knew we wouldn't be speaking to him until December 26th when things were open, and weren't sure if it would be by phone or Skype. After waiting a few hours on December 26th, the computer pinged and we were in business. On Christmas Day the Elders had made contact with a family that hadn't been to church in months and they invited them in and had a computer that worked with Skype. It was a Christmas miracle! We are so grateful to them to having the Elders over so we could talk with Michael. It was fun to wave and speak our very limited Spanish to them too :)
We started and ended our call with everybody on at once, then each person had a few minutes alone with Michael to talk about the mission, school and whatever they wanted. Jake asked Michael a lot of great questions and we learned lots of details about his life in Argentina. They also talked basketball and Michael gave Jake some tips for this new season he is about to start at the Y.
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| Jake and Michael |
Hayley, Trevor and Michael had a lot of stories to swap with each other about school, church and mission. They had a lot of fun talking to each other.
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| Hayley and Michael |
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| Trevor and Michael |
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| Lots of Fun Stories |
Luke was excited to show Michael all his Christmas gifts, from the Lego Star Wars fighter he and Jake built to the picture he had gotten of him and Michael before Michael left on his mission.* Michael has a copy of that same picture with him in Argentina that he shows people when they ask about his family. Luke thought it was pretty cool that they both have it now.
We wrapped up the phone call all together again, laughing mixed with a few tears. Michael said a great family prayer before we ended, that was a treasure in itself. It was so great to see and hear him, laugh as he unconsciously slipped into speaking Spanish mid sentence, and then he would catch himself, smile and start speaking English.
We love you Elder Mangum!!
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For a Christmas gift from Michael, each of the kids received a framed picture of themselves doing something with Michael before he left for Argentina and a surprise personal note from him that he emailed me a couple days before Christmas. It was a special moment on Christmas morning when they all opened their pictures and read their notes from Michael.
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