Zone Conference

Hey fam (and everybody else in the Maplehood!)

It is great to hear from you!  The week was really good, highlights include exchanges with the other members of the district on Wednesday and the Zone Conference on Friday.  

Wednesday we went in to La Rioja Capital and did intercambios with La Quebrada. I was with Elder Southwick from Utah in the morning (he has about 16 months in the mission) and Elder Golding from Idaho in the afternoon (he has the same amount of time as me.)  We had to do exchanges like that because President was asking reports from the district leaders a week early, and we had not done any intercambios yet.  2 birds with one stone.  Or in this case, 2 exchanges in 1 day.  It was a lot of fun.  Every time we go and do exchanges with these Elders, it pours down rain.  Elder Southwick and I got completely soaked in the morning, running in the rain from appointment to appointment.  We managed to get some trash bags to throw our backpacks in so our scriptures wouldn't get ruined.  Good times, and what is funny is that the only times it has ever rained in my 3 months here, is when we go and do exchanges.  For lunch the 4 of us Elders got back together, and each of us ate an entire chicken.  Yes, you read that right, an entire chicken each.  We were hungry.  In the afternoon I was with Elder Golding, and we had a great time, talking about the MTC and Dr. Pepper.  We were not in the same district in the MTC, so we did not know each other until we got to Argentina, but it was sweet to swap MTC stories and mission stories with somebody who has been out the same amount of time as I have.

Friday was the conference, and that was really enlightening.  My comp and I got to get up in front of everybody (about 40 missionaries) and teach the Area President and his wife about the Book of Mormon and invite them to read and pray about it, everybody said we did a good job.  My comp just got up and started walking up to the stand when they asked for a volunteer companionship, so I had to follow!  But we did well.  A big focus of the conference was the Book of Mormon, and the important role that it should play in each of our lives.  In section 84 it talks about the "new covenant of the Book of Mormon" and Elder Gonzolez expanded a little on that, saying how important it is that we read it on a daily basis.  Also, he promised us that if our converts and investigators get started in the habit early of reading the Book of Mormon, they are almost certain to stay active in the church.  It was a really good conference.

On Sunday I talked about the role of the parents, using as an emphasis various examples from the Book of Mormon, such as the Army of Helaman, Alma talking to his sons, and Nephi declaring in the very first verse of the book that he was born of goodly parents.  I started off the talk by paraphrasing (and translating) the country song "Watching You" by Rodney Atkins.  It was a great way to grab everybody's attention to start, and to show how crucial the role and example of the parents are to their children, and how we never know when they are watching.

My favorite part of the week was definitely the conference, very uplifting.  Although the funnest part was the afternoon with Golding.  I saw a bunch of missionaries from the MTC at the conference, I think there were 5 of us there from the 17 that came on the airplane together.  We did eat pretty good this week, empanadas at the conference and chicken on Wednesday, no complaints there.  As far as things I need, I will never say no to socks or ties, and winter clothing would definitely be of use in the coming months.  A couple of sweaters and a pair of gloves, if they are not already en route.  The carnival holiday here this week..not a fan, it kept me up all night.  I probably got about 20 hours of sleep in the past week of so. My favorite color is definitely still Blue!  The kid in the picture  from a couple weeks ago is 10, he is not the deacon who passes the sacrament.

That is an awesome story about Brother Owens, I especially enjoyed the part at the bus stop. I laughed out loud and got various looks from the other people in the internet cafe. Sounds like you all had an awesome, and very busy, week.  Always great to hear about all of y’alls experiences, and congrats to Jake for scoring in the game and Hayley for rocking it in her theatre competition!  

Love you all, and hope you have another fantastic week!  Happy Birthday to Uncle Matt!

Elder Mangum

An Apostle's Testimony of 

The Book of Mormon