Thanksgiving

Hey family,

This week was a really good week, much better than the past couple.  We found a new investigator on Monday night, who ended up coming to church yesterday.  His name is Hugo, and he’s about 60, with a potential baptismal date this month for the 13th.  Tuesday we did intercambios within the district, I was with Elder Richardson, which was fun because we both got to this area at the same time about 4 months ago.  We visited an elderly hermana in the ward who is practically bedridden because of her health, but she knows the doctrine of the church.  She taught us for about an hour, it was really interesting to listen to, and an experience that once again affirmed to me the veracity of the gospel.  

Thursday was Thanksgiving!  Except it isn’t celebrated here, so it was just a normal day of work.  We did have dinner with la familia Keller though, which is always a good time.  Friday we had dinner with Famila Lehite, he was our ward mission leader but a couple weeks ago he was called as the new Elder’s Quorum President. It’s not normal that we had 2 dinners in one week, the big meal here in Argentina is lunch, but it was nice for a little change this week.  Saturday was pretty fun, we had lunch with the Kellers again, and afterwards as we were walking and proselyting, it started pouring down rain and hail.  We got soaked to the bone, and the temperature dropped like 20 degrees.  It was cold, and definitely an experience I won’t be forgetting!  

Sunday Hugo came to church and said he enjoyed it, so that was good.  Hermano Keller got called as Ward Mission Leader, he is now both the executive secretary to the Bishop and the ward mission leader, and his wife is Young Women’s president.  They’ve got their hands full, and that’s not counting the 7 month old baby they have.  They are definitely one of my favorite families in the ward, and they speak English, which is a rarity for a couple under the age of 25 here. Sunday we also had a really good lesson with Cataline about the importance of the sacrament.  We read 3rd Nephi18:1-12, and explained what it meant, and what the sacrament meant to us personally.  It was a really good lesson, the spirit was definitely there in abundance testifying!  

We sing Christmas songs in the pension, but none in church yet.  I haven’t ate anything in particular that has made me sick, nor have we had seconds of anything this week, because with the 4 of us in the pension most of the meal is gone within 15 minutes.  A scripture that I shared this week would be Doctrine and Covenants 58:31.  Favorite tradition is just eating together during the holidays, that is definitely something I am going to miss. Haven’t seen any Christmas decorations yet, but I will let you know when I do!  The thing I like best about Argentina would probably be the food, I have had some really good meals.  

I am glad to hear that everybody is doing well and enjoyed Thanksgiving!  Now you’ve got 3 weeks more of school, and then even more vacation!  It will be a fun time, I always love this time of year.  Love you all!

Elder Mangum

Goals

Michael & Trevor outside of Houston Temple, June 2014

Hello Family!

This week went by fairly quickly. Wednesday we had a zone conference with about 100 missionaries or so.  The other 3 elders in my pension are all super musical, so I got the...opportunity to participate in the small choir that sang "Trabajemos Hoy en la obra del Señor" which is Let Us All Press On in English. We sang the version that the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sang in the April conference of this year, the Sunday morning session.  It actually ended up sounding pretty good for only having practiced it twice.  Saturday and Sunday were Stake Conference here in the Argentina Cordoba Sierras Stake. Our ward had the musical number on the Saturday evening session, and guess who were the only men to show up to sing? The missionaries!  We sang "Acompañame", which in English is Abide With Me. Elder Juan Urra from the 70 came and spoke in the conference, native of Argentina. It was a really good conference, with an overall theme of unity in the family and having the temple as our goal.  Family unity starts with having a purpose, a family goal.  It is also really important that everybody knows the goal, communication is the key. I have a picture of the Houston temple above my desk where I study, to remember my personal goals.  Crazy to believe the transfer is already more than half over!  In 3 weeks I could be in a completely different part of the province.  I hope not though, I would like to spend Christmas here.

Never found Valentina this week, hopefully we’ll be able to tackle that problem this week.  We have not given any blessings at all this transfer, which is actually very unusual.  Summer vacation starts here in Argentina in about 3 weeks. The best thing I ate this week was yesterday, fried chicken and french fries con Familia Aspitia. I would be more than happy with just the normal Thanksgiving dinner, turkey and mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce. The Mormon Message I remember most is Sanctify Yourself by Elder Holland.  No special plans this week, just need to find investigators. No service projects lately, and it is starting to get hot.

It’s great to hear that everybody is doing well and having fun.  Hope everybody has a great Thanksgiving break this week!  I am definitely thankful for all of you and for the influence everybody has had on me to help me get to where I am today.

Love,

Elder Mangum

Together Forever

Elder Mangum outside of the construction of the
Cordoba Temple on his first day in Argentina

Fam,

This week went by quickly.  Elder Summers and I are getting into a groove, and time is starting to fly.  Not a very productive week as far as numbers go, but it was good, and I learned a few things.  I spent quite a lot of study time reading from old General Conference talks, particularly from President Hinckley.  Hermana Martinelli calls me her President Hinckley, so I figured I would study up to see how I could possibly remind her of a prophet.  Still haven’t found an answer to that.  

Tuesday we got a text message saying from Alejandra saying she was in the hospital.  She had been feeling a lot of pain and went in, and they kept her there for 3 days to do some tests.  They didn’t find out what was wrong, so they released her and they are going to do some more this week I believe.  She came to church yesterday though, so that was really good!  We found out this week that Valentina’s mother is really Catholic and against her going to church, so we are going to go visit the whole family this week with a couple of converts to explain that we’re not THAT weird of a people.  

Sunday was a fantastic day.  Alejandra and Catalina both came to church, and it was the Primary Program here in Rio Ceballos. I may have teared up a few times.  The scriptures are right when they say the kingdom of heaven is a lot like little children.  They are full of light and of the spirit.  The theme was on the family, and there was a big photo of the Cordoba Temple up behind them.  As they were singing, I couldn’t help but think about my family thousands of miles away.  And that no matter what happens, we are together forever, and that thought alone is so comforting I can’t explain it with words. 

We did not visit Hermano Alegre again last week, his daughter just got off of her mission and was visiting, but we are going to go visit him again this week.  He actually got released on Sunday as a counselor in the bishopric.

Q/A’s - The funnest thing I did this week...we played a lot of basketball last Pday after I emailed y’all, that was fun.  My favorite Star Wars character, probably R2D2.  He is a wise guy, he’s there as part of the story the whole time.  I have not cooked anything yet, still searching what some of the ingredients are in Spanish.  A member is called to teach gospel principles, but she is less active, therefore usually one of us do.  We try to do stuff with the youth, usually go out once a week with one, and play soccer with them on Wednesday nights.  We sang Master the Tempest is raging this week, and a scripture that I have been thinking about a lot is James 1:22, applying really to members and their homes where there is no priesthood presence.

Glad to here that everybody is doing well!  I love hearing the stories of the week.  Love you all!

Elder Mangum

**This is English Version of one of the songs sung in Primary Programs worldwide this year.

The Family is of God

Changes

Alejandra's Baptism, 2 weeks ago

Fam,

This week was a week of changes. Changed companions from Elder Gravelle to Elder Summers, and Elder Summers came and changed up the area. Before there were 4 missionaries sharing the whole ward, without specific divisions. Not anymore, he split the ward right down the middle and said we get the north half and the other elders get the south half. Then he took our area and split it into 5 zones and color coded them so that we can easily see which members live in each zone.  I wasn’t a big fan of it at the time, but it does make sense, and more organization isn’t a bad thing.

Tuesday we taught Valentina the Plan of Salvation, and her older sister Lucia came and listened to us as well, and seemed quite interested. I was actually with Elder Willis from Florida that day, because my comp wanted to do exchanges, which he can do because he is the district leader. Thursday we passed by a reference, Agustina, with a couple of youth in the ward. Her mom is an inactive member, so we are trying to help the whole family out. Baptisms and reactivation at the same time, that’s what we call 2 birds with 1 stone!  

On Friday we finally visited Alejandra. As soon as we left her house it started raining and hailing like crazy, we were completely soaked when we got to lunch.  Sunday was a fun day.  Keller called me right before church and asked if I could give the talk I had prepared a couple of weeks ago, because the speakers that were supposed to talk bailed on him. I think it went pretty well, not as smooth as it would have been in English, but the people understood me por lo menos! That night we got to go out with Bishop and take the sacrament to Hermano Alegre, the counselor who is too sick to come to church. I always enjoy bringing the sacrament and visiting the elderly, I find that I end up learning and being helped a lot more than I help them.

My favorite Christmas song...would have to be Mary Did You Know. Or Christmas shoes, both are really good.  As far a traditional Christmas songs go, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day. My favorite thing this week was taking the sacrament to Hermano Alegre. I have not done any soccer or basketball lately, but that is set to change in a couple of hours. We drink juice the most in Argentina, from little packets the most popular of which being orange flavored. We can drink the water in the apartment, but the mission provides a big tank of clean water for us. We usually get about 5 or 6 meals a week from members, and never eat in restaurants.  Although there is a guy that delivers Lomitos, he has our number and address saved and we buy from him probably 2 or 3 times a week. A scripture I read this week would be Mosiah 4.  The whole chapter is awesome. This week I can’t say I laughed a ton, can’t pick out a specific moment.  Need to change that.  This week it would be awesome if you could pray for Valentina to get baptized within the next 2 weeks.  Love you all!  Thanks for all of your support.

Love,

Elder Mangum

Transfers - New Companion!

This week flew by.  It was the last week of the transfers, and my last week with my trainer Elder Gravelle.  This week was really good, we continued visiting Alejandra and Catalina who amaze me more and more each time we go with their knowledge and testimony of the gospel.  This week we taught Catalina’s friend, Valentina.  She came to church as well and has a baptismal date for the 15th of November, and we have high hopes for her.

On Thursday we also taught our investigator Susanna, and read Alma 34 with her.  She once again was in tears by the end, and knows with conviction that her Father in Heaven will never leave her solo. Also, she asked both me and my companion why we came out on the mission, and I was able to share with her my reasons and my testimony of the importance of the Atonement and the Gospel and the happiness it brings.

This week we also had the opportunity to have the first ward activity of the year, a Noche de Empanadas, on Friday.  It was a lot of fun.  Chango Funes brought all of his performing equipment, lots of microphones and speakers and lights and, of course, music.  We had a little bit of Karaoke and a whole bunch of empanadas!  It was a good night, a good chance for the ward to just get together and have a good time.

Yesterday after church Elder Gravelle and I got to go around to a few families he wanted to see before he left. We spent quite a while with the two converts that we have helped these past 2 transfers together, and it was really neat to see just how much us missionaries mean to the converts. 

This morning I got my new companion, Elder Summers from Provo, Utah.  He is almost done with his mission, this is his second to last transfer.  We’ve only known each other for about 4 hours, but he seems pretty cool.  I’m excited to get to work with him here in Rio Ceballos for the next 6 weeks, por lo menos!  

Answers to your ?’s - They do have chocolate, but it’s not the same.  No AC, just fans.  The best food...Keller made pizza, which was awesome.  We ride the bus everyday, probably 3 or 4 times. Today I got my new comp for Pday.  I have 2 name tags.  Never ended up giving the talk in church, I guess they forgot.  A scripture I shared this week was the end of Abraham 3, talking about the premortal existence and the war in heaven.  

Baby number 4, Congrats Matt and Jen, that is awesome.  Glad to hear Halloween was so much fun.  Love you all!

Hope everybody is doing well!

Love,

Elder Mangum

The Work Moves Forward

Hey fam,

This week was really good. Another week that just flew by!  It has been in the 80s and 90s all week temperature wise, and hit 100 today.  And this is supposed to be Spring.  We did quite a bit of service this week, mainly in the landscaping department, and moving bags of concrete that weigh more than I do. We helped out Hermana Martinelli and one of her nonmember friends. We visited Alejandra almost everyday this week, making sure she felt ready for the baptism. 

Thursday was a really good day. We had a lesson with Catalina, the girl who got baptized last week, who brought her friend, Valentina, who appears to be legitimately interested in the gospel as well. Also, we went to Salsipuedes on Thursday, which is a little pueblito outside of Rio Ceballos. Cordoba Capital is like Houston, Rio Ceballos is Sugarland, and Salsipuedes is Sienna Plantation, at least in regards to distances.  Although we ride busses, so everything takes quite a bit longer. And Salsipuedes is probably the poorest of the 3 as well. We went to visit Susanna, who we found a couple of weeks ago, and had already read the whole Book of Mormon when we found her. We went over the Plan of Salvation, and she was in tears as we went over the Atonement. She is in a rough situation right now, separated from her husband who is an alcoholic and she’s living in the back of her sewing shop. As we talked about how Christ knew what she was going through, and had suffered for all of these pains and afflictions that she is experiencing, the Spirit was incredibly strong. She told us that she needs to be baptized, but doesn’t want to rush anything or feel pressured. She’s already told us that she knows the Book of Mormon is true and is currently in the process of reading it again.  It’s only a matter of time, we are going back on Thursday to teach the Restoration, which she is already familiar with. We’ll see what happens!

Saturday we had burgers with the Stake President, and then the baptism of Alejandra! Elder Gravelle and I have been teaching her for the past 2 1/2 months, and it is amazing to see the progression that she has made in that time.  I remember the first time we went to her home, it was my 3rd day in Argentina, and she didn’t want anything. The only reason we went back is because her daughter was interested. Now, after slow and steady progress week by week, she made it. The baptismal service was really nice, her daughter even came.  The only reason she isn’t baptized yet is because she lives with her boyfriend, but we´re trying to fix that.  The Bishop performed the ordinance because he knew her, and the Spirit was there in abundance. It is really neat to see how people completely change into new, better, and happier people when they live the Gospel.

Answers to the fam’s ?’s :

My shoes are always dusty, I have to brush them off every night when I get home.  No primary program as of yet, and I haven’t heard anything about one. Nobody snores, and the food I miss most from home are the chocolate chip cookies.  Send me the recipe!   I will try to celebrate Thanksgiving, although I doubt I will be with this companion because transfers are this weekend and we have already been together for nearly 3 months. Spiritual highlight of the week was the Atonement discussion with Susanna, closely followed by the baptism.  I just finished reading Jesus the Christ.  I am currently studying a lot about the Atonement and the life of Christ.  We do have a baptismal font, and what made me smile today was opening up my email and seeing how loved I am by friends and family.  Glad to hear that everybody is having fun and doing well!

Love you all,

Elder Mangum

PS - No pictures this week, got a bad computer.  Next week I’ll send them, the baptism was a blast! I would love the chocolate chip cookie recipe, and any others that you think are simple and I could use here.  Love you!

Baptism!



Catelina's Baptism!

 

Hey fam,

This week flew by. They say everything goes a lot faster and is a lot more fun when you’re baptizing, and I can testify to that! Tuesday was a fun, or rather a very funny day.  A recent convert of about 2 years invited us over for lunch on her birthday, she’s about 45 and has kids in primary and young womens. Her mother, who is not a member and is legally blind, also came.  Everything was going pretty normal until they brought out the cake that the old blind lady had made. It was chocolate and banana, and tasted terrible...I could have sworn the bananas were rotten or something. So we finish eating the cake, and the mom starts cackling over in the corner, and we ask what is so funny.  She then tells us that she spiked the cake with liquor AFTER it had been cooked, and that is why it tasted so different and was so moist that it was literally soaked in alcohol.  Needless to say, everything from that point on that day was a little off!  I had made it nearly 19 years without ever partaking of a drop of alcohol, then 3 months into being a missionary that´s not true anymore.  Definitely not a story I was expecting to ever tell!

Thursday Catalina passed her baptismal interview.  This is the 17 year old girl who is neighbors with the stake president and showed up out of the blue to General Conference and loved it.  She had been prepared for baptism before we even showed up.  Saturday was the baptism, a very good day.  My first baptism of the mission, hopefully the first of many to come. The stake president performed the ordinance, which was really cool because he has known her since she was a toddler. On Sunday she got confirmed, and Alejandra showed up for church.  Alejandra will should be getting baptized this upcoming Saturday, 2 baptisms in 2 weeks!  Which is really good in this area, they have only had about 8 in the past year. I was supposed to give a talk on Sunday as well, but the other missionary who spoke, not my companion, took over 30 minutes so they postponed my talk for another week. It was also Mother’s Day here in Argentina, and we had dinner with Hermana Martinelli, who has been a widow for about 25 years. She sends her saludos (best wishes) to the family, specifically Mom, and says thank you for allowing me to leave yall for 2 years to come bless the people here.

The strangest thing I have eaten in Argentina, other than that cake, is blood sausage.  They do celebrate Halloween, but it is not as big, and there is no peanut butter.  The best thing of the week was definitely the baptism.  Funniest thing this week was the whole day of Tuesday.  Something I am grateful for today would have to be pictures, because they bring back lots of memories.  If I had to give a talk, it would be on Mosiah 18, the baptismal covenant...oh wait I am giving a talk on that soon!   It is awesome to hear how well everybody is doing, and how much fun yall are having.

Love you all!

Michael  

Our District


 

View from our apartment



Intercambios, Noche de Hogar y Tramites

Hey Fam,

We got electricity!  After nearly 3 weeks, we finally got it back on Tuesday.  Unfortunately I left Tuesday morning to do intercambios (exchanges) with the Zone Leaders, so I didn´t get to enjoy it until the next day.  Monday we had Noche de Hogar (FHE) con Familia Aspitia, and they had never heard of milkshakes, so I made some for them and they loved it.  Milkshakes and smoothies aren´t a big thing here, but I’m trying to fix that.  Wednesday we got a new, full time missionary to replace the mini missionary.  Elder Willis, from Jacksonville, Florida.  Back to having 4 gringos in the apartment. On Thursday I finally got a haircut, from a miembro, Hermano Keller.  He didn´t really know how to cut hair, but it turned out alright, and saved me 50 pesos, which down here is a lot. We only get 1400 for the month.  Friday I was in the city of Cordoba all day doing tramites, which is just paperwork to make me legal in the country because my travel visa was about to expire.  We had to wake up at 3:30 to make it over there by 6:30 in the morning, and we were there until after 4 in the afternoon.  All I did the entire day was sign 3 pieces of paper. But now I am legal until next August, so that is a good thing.  Also, I was able to catch up with my old MTC buddy Elder Garrett and talk about what’s been going on for the past 2+ months that we´ve been in Argentina. Sunday was solid, we had cake with a converso reciente, Ruth, her one year anniversary of being a member.  She is getting ready to serve a mission of her own, she has already started her papers.  

Milagro (miracle) this week, we had a nonmember show up to conference with her neighbors, name of Catelina, 17 years old.  We passed by her house this week and taught her the Restoration, and she committed to be baptized on the 18th.  And, her father already gave her his permission to be baptized.  She showed up to church yesterday as well, and is really excited to be baptized. Alejandra passed her baptismal interview, but then didn´t show up to church yesterday, so she won’t be baptized until at least the 25th. She has completely stopped smoking though, all she has to do is show up to church.  She believes that it is all true, so we’ll see what happens!  It is hard to write in English, because I now dream and think in Spanish, and the computers tell me that every word is spelled wrong in English.

They are making a big push with family history here, they just got the My Family little booklets.  I actually am supposed to ask you for information and pictures to fill out the book, about all of my great grandparents, grandparents, parents, and the siblings of all those people as well.  There is time in the schedule to exercise everyday, and we almost always eat cold cereal for breakfast, although the new guy wants to start making stuff.  When the electricity was out, we used both flashlights and candles.  We usually teach lessons just at the homes of the investigators, and usually have 2 or 3 set appointments and just drop by for the rest.  We have used the Restoration video, Finding Faith in Christ, and On the Lord’s Errand, the documentary of President Monson’s life. As far as packages go, nobody really gets any, and if you want to send me something for my birthday, you would probably have to send it now for it to get here even close to then.

I’m glad to hear that Hayley’s volleyball team is killing it, and that everybody is having fun at home!  Love and miss you all.

Elder Mangum

PS- No pictures this week, we are at a different internet cafe that has a reputation for destroying SIM cards so I’m not going to risk it.

General Conference



Hey fam,

This week was pretty good, it flew by.  Still don’t have electricity, it’s been nearly 3 weeks now, and I have gotten used to showering from a bucket.  Not sure if that’s a good thing. The new missionary in our pension had to head home, so he got replaced with a mini missionary from the next stake over. We gave Alejandra a blessing on Tuesday to help her stop smoking, and she hasn’t smoked a cigarette yet! She has a baptismal interview scheduled for tomorrow.  We got to watch all of conference in Spanish, except for one session, and that session just happened to be the one where Elder Holland talked, so that was definitely a blessing!  I would have to say that conference is far more enjoyable to watch in English, when you get to hear their actual voices and the emotion, you can’t really get that with the translators. Didn´t have a problem understanding it in Spanish, and it was cool to listen to people speak in their native tongues, it was neat to see how much Portuguese I could understand, more than I thought I would!  All of the members brought food on Sunday to eat in between the sessions, because they are at 1 and 5 in the afternoon here. 

Couple of thoughts that I really enjoyed from conference.

Elder Callister- The role of a parent is sacred, it is an enormous responsibility to be able to raise and teach children.

Elder Holland- It is a duty to bless and help the poor.  Do what you can, its about love, not statistics. 

Elder Bednar- Disciples of Christ should ALWAYS be valiant missionaries. 

President Monson- Christ´s path will always lead us safely home.

And my personal favorite, from Elder Perry- Who can put a price tag on the influence of a mother on their children?  I loved that one, makes me extremely grateful for the mother I have and all that my parents taught me! 

No extra security from what I have heard, I had heard about what went down in Buenos Aires though. Our mission home already had a 24/7 guard because of the construction on the Temple that is on the same property.  I have plenty of ties, but something that I have not been able to find here is contact solution.  Not sure if I am not looking in the right places or what, but that is something that would definitely come in handy.  What do I miss most from home...probably either my bed or the restroom.  Particularly the shower.  And of course, mi familia as well! 

Hope everybody is doing well, praying for everybody day and night.

Love,

Elder Mangum

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/watch/2014/10?lang=eng&vid=3821264213001&cid=10



3 Months

Hey everybody,

This week was pretty good.  It is getting hotter and hotter here.  We have yet to get electricity back, so I am still showering from a bucket.  Almost 2 weeks already without it, we will see how long it takes them to turn it back on. On Tuesday we had to go to the hospital to give a blessing to the 75 year old that we had given service to last week, Hermano Alegre.  When we got there he was speaking complete gibberish, but we gave him a blessing and he was at church on Sunday, and was completely fine. Thursday night we went to the Kellers, the most gringo-ish people here, and I made milkshakes for everybody.  It was fun, brought back memories from Bahama Bucks. Also, they had a plant with peppers that they thought were extremely hot, but I popped one in my mouth like it was nothing.  The Argentine definition of Picante is about the norm for mexican food, not spicy at all.  Saturday we had lunch with the Stake President, and helped him trim some of his trees.  He was having a little too much fun with the chainsaw if you ask me.  We just cleared the branches that he cut down, nothing too hard. 

This week we continued teaching Familia Herredia, there are 4 of them, and the "wife" is pregnant. They’re not married.  They are really enjoying the lessons though, and we´ve already taught the law of chastity and they want to get married, they already have all the paperwork and everything, they just need to do it.  They came to church this past Sunday for the first time, and it seemed like they enjoyed it.  They have a plan to get married in the next 3 weeks, so we hopefully will baptize them by the end of the month. They’re a really amazing family, keeping all their commitments and reading the Book of Mormon everyday.  Our other investigator, Alejandra is continuing to struggle to stop smoking, but she is smoking less and less everyday, and she also reads the Book of Mormon everyday, which she says helps her to focus on things other than the next cigarette. It is amazing to see how much happier people are with the gospel in their lives compared to the first time we met them.

As far as needs go, I think I am doing pretty good.  We have a CD player and listen to music, when we have electricity. The happiest moment this past week was seeing the Herredia family walk into church together.  We have yet to use the washing machine, because we have no electricity.  This last week I learned, or rather re-learned, how much the gospel really brings true happiness into people´s lives.  My favorite story in the Bible is probably the life of Christ, particularly the last 36 hours or so of his life.  I am currently about halfway through Jesus the Christ, definitely teaching me a lot.

Glad to hear everybody is doing well.  The work here is definitely progressing, and I am looking forward to conference this next weekend.  You’re all in my prayers every morning and every night!

Love,

Elder Mangum