My first week was pretty good. I'm not gonna lie, the CTM is the hardest thing I've ever done. It is a 16 hour work day doing 18-22 different activities a day. The leaders here don't speak very much English which can be frustrating, but it also helps a lot with Portuguese. I'm surprised by how much Portuguese I've learned in a week, like I already have the missionary purpose, the baptismal invitation and the points of the Restoration in Portuguese memorized and I can pray (poorly) and hold a small conversation in Portuguese. The gift of tongues is very real.
Our district is so much fun. You get like 2 or 3 times of physical activity a week where you have to run 5 laps then you can play volleyball or basketball or run more or whatever. My companion is fun, Elder Lehmann from Provo Utah. He worked for a year before coming out, got a girlfriend back home, and will be starting his first year at BYU with me. He also got a 35 on his ACT. The food is fine, a bit repetitive. Haven´t eaten any beans yet though! Breakfast is honestly the worst, it is literally cheese, ham, and like a roll and if you´re lucky and early enough to breakfast, you can use one of the like panini makers and grill it, if not then it stinks.
Anyways, it is so so so much fun here at the CTM (centro de treinamento missionario), sorry for any spelling errors, Brazillian keyboard and all. We´ve had to teach an investigator twice which is really hard when you don´t know the language. They push you really hard here and sometimes it is literally impossible to achieve what they are asking but the effort of trying hard to reach what they set blesses you so much in learning and whatnot. Customs was fine, didn´t like declare anything, they just looked at my passport and sent me through. We can only take pictures on Wednesday which is our actual P-Day, only everyone has to email on Tuesday because there are so many missionaries. They spread out laundry so I actually did my laundry yesterday. Elder Lehmann, Houser, and Knebel and I share a room and we combined all our darks into one and then did our whites separately. Everyone is a part of the choir. We have choir right before the devotional on Wednesdays and Sundays and it is required to come to that. I don't mind, it's fun to sing. The devotionals can be difficult though because we have to listen with headphones because you know, we're in Brazil. I do hope that an Apostle or someone comes and visits during my stay here though, that would be awesome.
We go to the temple on Wednesday morning too and we switch between the Campenas and the Sao Paulo one with the Brazileros, only the Sao Paulo one is closed the next couple of weeks for cleanings so I think we will all go to the Campenas one tomorrow. We´ve got to get up an hour early, at 5:30 tomorrow to go to the temple. We also can´t upload pictures to the computer at the CTM so you´ll have to wait 6 weeks for any pictures.
The most surprising thing was on day one. We get here and they give us a bag with stuff including name tags. So we put it on and Elder Knebel who is now my DL and will be going to Porto Alegre North, goes 'Elder Mangum, that isn't right!" They accidently gave me the Sister Mangum name tags! We all laughed and they quickly switched them because the Utah people got to the CTM a couple hours after everyone else. Coincidentally, Sister Mangum is one of the two missionaries in my district. In my district in Elder Lehmann and I, Elder Knebel and Houser, Elder Berkheimer and Carrell (all 8 of us going to Porto Alegre Norte), Sister Mangum and Bucio, and Elder Frost and Stoker, all 4 going to Landrina.
Things are good here, hard, but fun. I love all the people and getting to meet new people and learn Portuguese. I´m very surprised at times by how much I know, Spanish helps definitely with conjugation and some of the cognates, but I have learned a ton in the past week, like it is crazy for me to think that a week ago, I knew no Portuguese. It feels like I´ve been here forever and I love it, although I am ready to get out of this building tomorrow and get to walk around some.
Much love,
Elder Mangum
Hello, Trevor. I've bookmarked this blogspot link so I can follow your comings and goings during your mission. BTW, if and when you come across Sister Mangum again, be sure say HI CUZ. You might know this already but she is from Springville, just south of Provo. I believe her grandfather was James E. Mangum who was mayor of Orem for many years. Your grandfather, James I. Mangum, and he are related but I'm not sure of the connection.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I'm excited to see this blogspot occasionally and read of your accomplishments. God Bless you in His work. Like I mentioned in your Mom's Facebook post, we pray for you and your family every day.
We love you and keep up the Good Work; the Lord's Work.