Working Hard

Hey fam,

It was a good week.  Pretty busy, a lot of work, being a ZL isn't as easy as they make it seem.  My hairline is receding even faster than before.  4 districts in the zone.  11 companionships in total, including the assistants to the president.  But it’s been fun, we have 8 baptisms lined up for this weekend in my area (between us and the other companionship), so we're praying that it will all work out!  Truth be told, I don't remember a ton of details from the week.

Tuesday we worked ourselves dead finding people and putting baptismal goals for the 28th with 3 people.  We had ward council as well that night.  Wednesday we stayed in our area and went to the District Meeting of the DL who lives with us (every week we choose a different meeting to go to)  and guess who decided to make a surprise visit?  The mission president.  First time in my nearly 2 years here that he has done that, but it was cool.  We did intercambios with one of the areas, Arguello, and afterwards ate 3 litros of ice cream in one sitting between the 4 of us. (The ice cream here is super cheap...a cone with 2 scoops here is the equivalent of a dollar back at home). 

The rest of the week was work, work, work. Friday we went to the temple, which was neat, the first time since Carlos Paz that I have been able to go. Being a ZL, and over the temple, I can pretty much go whenever I want. Special privileges, it’s pretty cool.  Sunday was good, it’s nice being back in a ward where my only worry is that my investigators get to church. 

This week I hit 2 Nephi 2, a chapter full of "nuggets" as Brother Brame would say, I encourage y’all to check it out.  There is an opposition in all things, but we are free to choose for ourselves. Or as President Hinckley said "You can be smart and happy or you can be stupid and miserable. The choice is yours." 

We are teaching a boat load of people, but the ones who should be baptized this weekend are Javier, Richard, Jessie, Ruben, Lautaro, Lucas.  A normal zone baptizes 10 a month, in the zone we have 12 lined up for this weekend alone.  Nothing too different in this area, although I am on a bike for the first (and probably last) time in my mission. This week we have a Broadcast/training from Elder Bednar on Wednesday.  4 months from today I land on Texas soil, hard to believe.

Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Mangum

Hill Country of Cordoba

Hey fam,

This was a good week.  Learning the ropes as a Zone Leader has been fun.  I love the area, it is great to be back in the hill country of Cordoba.  Both the areas of Rio Ceballos and Carlos Paz were this type of scenery and climate, so it feels very familiar.  Those were also my two favorite areas, so its an added plus.  In the ward we have 4 missionaries, my comp and I, Elder Coombs from Utah, and Elder Aldaz from Ecuador. We are all in the same pension, which is fun.  Everything in the pension works as well, the fridge, the microwave, and we even have a washing machine, perks of being a Zone Leader. We have the biggest zone in the mission, with 22 missionaries.  The zone includes the mission offices and the temple, so we have permission to go and teach investigators on temple grounds whenever we want.  

Last Monday was fun, a bunch of missionaries from my old districts hung out and we went to a Peruvian restaurant, and did bowling and walked around downtown. Tuesday it was back to work, we visited a few people here in the area, and had to organize a splash in Villa Belgrano, the area where the mission home and temple are located, because the 14 missionaries who were going to train had 3 hours of free time, and President wanted to put them to work, so he called us to organize it.  We got a map of the area and split it up into sectors, and made companionships of those who were going to train (the greenies still hadn't shown up yet) and we got to work.  In less than 3 hours, we found 20 new investigators for the area, which in that area, is unheard of.  Think of the neighborhood where the Houston Temple is located, it was the Argentine equivalent of knocking doors there.  I found a pretty cool family, Daniel who is a doctor, has his wife and 3 kids, the Elders who work in that area went on Saturday and have another appointment with him tomorrow, hopefully it will keep going well!  Wednesday and Thursday it was working in our area, and on Friday we had a zone meeting.  Elder Castro and I gave a small message, sharing the zone vision of baptizing 33 people this month and using all of the mission tools that we have at our expense.  We shared the last chapter of John as motivation.  I then went to a "rendir cuentas" (in English that would be...Accounting?  Basically giving reports of investigators) of one of the districts, it was..interesting to say the least.  Can't go into too much detail, not a ton of time to write it all out. That night I went to Rio Ceballos to do a baptismal interview, the girl never showed up, but it was cool to go back to my old area, truth be told it felt like coming home, I got to talk with the bishop of the ward for a solid hour and catch up on how things were going.

Saturday was more work, and Sunday we had 2 investigators in church, Ruben and his dad, who is also named Ruben.  Ruben Jr. has a baptismal date for this next Sunday, so we'll be praying for that.  Today we went to Rio Ceballos for Pday, we hiked up to a waterfall (truth be told, pretty pathetic waterfall) and grilled choripan (sausage on a bun mas o menos). It was a long day, I am pretty beat, but the whole zone came out and we did it together, which was the goal.  More zone unity, something that had been missing.  It is harder, trying to do these things with a zone, in a district there were 4 or 6 of us, now we are five times that amount.  But all in all, it went well, no complaints from anybody por lo menos!  I started the Book of Mormon and the New Testament again this week, hope to finish both by my birthday.  Read your scriptures every day, it may seem like something small, but it will make a huge difference! 

I have had some pretty good meals already, it feels so much better to be back in a city type of area.  There is a shopping (like a mall) a couple blocks from our house, and it feels like walking into First Colony Mall back at home.  Mickey D's, a smoothie place, stores, and it’s even got a movie theater.  All with AC, which is pretty awesome, especially since we are burning up down here this summer. (Did I mention our house has AC?  only in our bedroom, but it’s still awesome to come home a the end of the day to a freezing cold room after being out suffering in the heat!) My tooth is good, don't even notice it.  Valentine's Day is a thing here, but not as big.  Church was good on Sunday, they had me bear my testimony.  Glad to hear all is going well back at home, crazy that Maddie is already heading out on her mission!  Time is flying by, February is already halfway done.  

Love you all!  Take advantage of every minute this week!

Elder Mangum

Transferred!

Hey Fam!

Another area come and gone.  Saturday night I got the phone call, my new area is Villa Allende as Zone Leader.  It will probably be my last area.  It is the same zone where I started my mission, so it’s kind of cool that everything has come full circle.  I will be doing an exchange or two in Rio Ceballos, that's for sure!  My new comp is Elder Castro from...guess where...Peru! My third companion from Peru, which will be a lot of fun.  He has about 14 months in the mish, I actually was in the same zone when he started the mission and remember him as a greenie.  I am pretty pumped, I am in another one of the strongest wards in Cordoba (well, technically I am right outside of the city...again.)  It’s funny, half of my areas have been "strong" wards, and the other half have been tiny little branches or annexes.  The best of both worlds!

This last week in the area was fun, we did some service for our branch president, helping him clean up his backyard and move some things.  Wednesday we had a zone meeting and were in Bellville all day, but it was good to be able to do the end of transfer interviews with the sisters and really see how much each of them had progressed in the past 6 weeks.  Truth be told, I might miss being in charge of sisters, sometimes it wasn't easy, but I definitely learned a ton!  The rest of the week was pretty normal, Sunday half of the branch decided to go on vacations to Carlos Paz, so there were only about 20 of us in the chapel, but really it was probably the most spiritual Sunday that I have had in the area. All of the old timers in the branch in testimony meeting shared their testimonies and conversion stories, which was neat.  We studied 2 Nephi 2 in Sunday School, which is always a fun class, there is definitely an opposition in all things!

Sounds like y’all had a great time this week, minus Jake.  Hopefully he feels better!  I am pretty excited for my new zone, it is the zone that baptizes most in the mission, and we intend to keep it that way.  Crazy to think that, unless something crazy happens, this will be my final area.  It is crazy how time flies!  Love you all!

Elder Mangum

Some older pictures from Marcos Juarez in Nov/Dec

A Splash and a Root Canal

Hey fam,

Another record breaking week in District Marcos Juarez.  Last week I had gotten a call from the sister training leaders telling me that one of the companionships I have in my district was in need of some help, not with obedience, but in terms of doing the work with animo (good cheer?) and enjoying it.  So we did a "splash" on Wednesday, where 10 of us (the 4 sisters, us, the ZLs, and 2 youth) went and just contacted people in their area for a couple hours.  At the end of the day, they had 36 new investigators, which is unheard of in that area.  The normal is 3 or 4 in a week...and we quadrupled that in a matter of hours.  In total in my district (the three companionships) we found 60 new investigators...more than 7 of the other 11 zones (A zone usually has between 14-24 missionaries, and finds 40 or so new investigators).  In other words, we killed it this week.  

Monday and Tuesday were pretty normal days in the work, we had an FHE with president and his daughter happened to have 4 friends over, so we took advantage of the opportunity and taught a little there, and one of them (Victoria se llama) showed up to church on Sunday.  Wednesday we were in Leones, I assigned one of the sisters to give the training based on the scripture in Matthew 16:24-26. Then the splash, which was a huge success, and showed everybody just how much we can do when we put our mind to it and have the right attitude.  Thursday and Friday was more work in our area.  Thursday I had to have a root canal...remember the molar that broke about 6 months ago?  It had started bugging me again, and I went to get it checked out, and they "operated" then and there, supposedly it was pretty serious.  I would explain it to y’all, but the truth is I can only explain it in Spanish, seeing as I had never had a root canal before in the states.  But the molar had 3 "conductos" and one of them started gushing out blood and wouldn't stop...it was a long 2 hours at the dentist office.  No pain meds, and they barely gave me anesthesia, hurt like heck during it. And my face still hurts, but no pain, no gain!  

Saturday morning I got a phone call telling me that I needed to travel to Bellville to do a baptismal interview for one of the ZL's investigators.  Antonella, mother of 3, super prepared, it was a really fun baptismal interview.  She knew everything, and had a testimony of every principle that we talked about.  She was baptized yesterday in the tarde.  Sunday we taught the 3rd hour lesson, on the Area Plan, which is a focus on The Sabbath Day, Self Reliance, and the Temple.  Then we had a surprise visit from a member of the 70 to our branch!  Elder Romeu from Buenos Aires, an area 70, came to talk to the youth specifically but ended up giving a charla to everybody, based on a few principles in For the Strength of Youth (language, music, friendships, etc.). It was only about an hour long and the left to go to one of the other branches, but it was cool to have a surprise visit.  Not quite like having the President of the Quorum of the 12 like y’all had at home, but still! Sounds like a pretty fun packed weekend. Alma 5 and 7 are packed full of good stuff.  

This is the last week of the transfer, they will call us on Saturday night.  Almost 100% sure that I am gone, already have 4 months in the area, and only 4 months left in the mission, probably headed to my last area.  Crazy how time flies!

Love y’all, keep on keeping on!

Elder Mangum

New Investigators

Hey fam,

It was a record setting week down here in Marcos Juarez.  Elder Diaz and I worked our tails off, and found the most new investigators in a single week in the history of the area.  The home run of the week was on Saturday night, when we were invited to the birthday dinner of a recent convert, and found 9 new investigators in the dinner, putting 2 baptismal dates as well.  Not a bad night, not to mention a huge Argentine BBQ to go along with it.  

Tuesday was a normal day, we decided to travel that night to Bellville where the Zone Leaders live. We were going to stay the night at their apartment because we had a zone meeting the next day.  Only problem was, they were on a trip to Cordoba, and were going to arrive about 11:30 at night.  In and of itself that wasn't a problem, because we took the 10:30 bus from our town and would show up about the same time.  However, without giving us a heads up, they were held back with delays in the capital, and didn't actually take a bus until midnight...and it is about a 3 hour trip.  So we waited.  And waited.  And waited in the bus terminal until 3 in the morning, when they showed up and we took a cab to their apartment.  Then it was up and at ‘em Wednesday morning at 6:30 to get ready for the zone meeting and the worldwide missionary training.  I gave a small training on urgency, citing the scripture in D&C about hastening the work.  We did some really cool practices that I learned in the MTC, call BOSS Baptism, "Baptized On the Second Sunday."  In 5 three minute appointments, we have to teach all of the things that an investigator would need to know in order to pass their baptismal interview.  The worldwide training was good, we heard from several apostles and there was a big focus on several principles from PMG, mainly Chapter 4 and 9.  

The rest of the week was just another week at the office, plus the miracles that we had on Saturday.  Sunday I gave a talk on revelation.  I talked about how the prophet receives revelation for the whole church, the branch president for the branch (a big focus on how the local leaders are called of God and what it means to sustain them) and how we can receive personal revelation for ourselves and for our families.  However, the personal revelation we receive will not be in contradiction to the things that we learn from our leaders and the prophets.  

Sounds like y’all had a great week, and a really cool opportunity with President Nelson coming to talk to the youth.  I am jealous that I won't get to be there!  I remember when Elder Ballard came down with Elder Nielson and I was asked to say the opening prayer and sit on the stand.  An awesome experience!  

Love you all, have a great week!

Elder Mangum

A fridge and a fan

Hey fam,

Another week down.  Already over halfway done with January, which is pretty hard to believe.  Nothing crazy this week, I gave a zone training on the question "Where are your baptisms?" Because at that point, we were the only companionship who had baptized, (Saturday my sisters in the district baptized, so it looks like the training worked.)  I put a major focus on the Atonement, and the small things we do on a daily basis that are fundamental in leading up to a baptism.  

Other than that, a pretty normal week.  Nobody showed up to church, which was kind of a downer, but we got interviewed again and next week they SHOULD make us official in the branch. 4 talks on Sunday, and all 4 touching the themes of self reliance and service. 

This week there is a worldwide missionary training, the last time there was one of those, they announced the publication of Preach My Gospel, so we will see what happens!  I am pretty excited. We will watch it as a zone in Bellville, which is about an hour away.

Sounds like y’all had a great week.  That is really cool about Elder Christofferson visiting Grandpa and Grandmommie. Valentin didn't show up, nor Alexis, so that was pretty rough.  We get fed really well. No English classes, and the apartment is OK.  We just got a fridge and a fan this week, so we aren't dying of heat anymore.  No hot water though, but it’s all good, at least it is coming out of a shower and not a bucket this time. Oh yeah, I got 3 packages this week! The Dr. Pepper candy is awesome...it had just a touch of the flavor, which is great.  

Love you all!

Elder Mangum

Valentin's Baptism

Hey fam,

Life is good in the pueblito de Marcos Juarez.  Yesterday we were able to baptize my amigo Valentin Piriz, which was awesome.  It had been a while since the branch had a baptism, we did it right after church, and the majority stayed for a little bit...then left before the kid got baptized.  More on that story later, it’s a funny one.  

The week went well, we were able to teach quite a bit and found a boat load of new people.  Elder Diaz and I work well together, and the branch loves us.  Wednesday I gave a training on "inspired questions" and listening with love to the people that we are teaching.  The promise from Elder Holland is that if we listen with love (with charity, understanding the atonement and how it can be applied in the situation)  the spirit will tell us all that we need to say.  Missionary work isn't rocket science, despite the fact that some people try to make it be.  

Saturday we had a good lesson with an investigator named Alexis, he has a baptismal date for the 24th, we are pretty excited for him and the potential he has.  That night the ZLs came down and did the interview for my buddy Valentin, and he passed with flying colors.  Sunday rolled around, we had a great 3 hours (we did the agenda for sacrament meeting, the first time in the history of the branch that they sang an intermediate hymn!).  We had to help out in primary again...I had them watch a video about the Book of Mormon (the Mormon Message with the guy from England) and then explained to them the importance of it.  IT went better than the last time, por lo menos!  Then it was time for the baptism.

I will not be forgetting this baptism any time soon.  My comp was going to baptize him, they all got dressed with no problems, I directed the baptismal service, 2 great talks before the ordinance, everything going as planned, and then we head to the font.  Nobody had mentioned that the poor guy is terrified of water!  He walked down tall the steps but the last one, and then started to say 'you're going to drown me, you're going to drown me, I'm scared.'  We tried to calm him down, his brothers who are members tried to convince him that everything would be fine, but nothing worked.  Our branch president got down in the water with him to try and comfort him, same with our Elders quorum president.  When that didn't work, President's son got in, and showed Valentin how we baptize (my comp proceeded to baptize him, without saying the prayer...twice).  Still, the poor kid couldn't get over his fear.  But at the same time, he wouldn’t leave the font because he wanted to be baptized, it was a long half an hour.  At this point, just about everybody who had stayed for the baptism, left because it was lunch time and they were hungry.  Finally Valentin decides to leave the font, and goes with President to the bathroom.  About 30 seconds later, the kid runs out, basically jumps in the font, and says let’s do this.  My comp baptized him, and when he came up out of the water, he goes "that's it?  Can we do it again?"  I won't lie, I shed a tear.  It was going to be the second time in my mission that the investigator showed up to the service, and decided not to be baptized.  But President worked some magic, and God answered our prayers, and Valentin overcame his fear of the water.  It was quite the experience!

Today the sisters came down for Pday, its Hermana Barbosa's birthday, so we grilled hamburgers and had ice cream, nothing too fancy, but its been fun.  Glad to hear that all is well back home, every time I look at the calendar I can't believe how fast time is flying.

Love you all!

Elder Mangum

A Book of Mormon Story

Happy New Year!

Hey fam,

This week went well, we worked a ton and had a lot of fun doing it.  Just about every day of the week we put baptismal dates with our investigators, including the ones we were teaching the very first time. We had one kid come to church on Sunday, Valentin, that should be getting baptized next Sunday after church, and another 3 or 4 with plans for the 17th.  

Wednesday we had district meeting with the new district, and guess who came to visit us again, the Zone Leaders!  We still have the Brazilian, and now the other one is a guy from the Dominican Republic who speaks like 5 languages, I get along well with him.  I gave a training on setting goals, not just numbers wise but also for our personal development as missionaries and as children of God with divine potential.  I think it went pretty well.

New Years Eve was a blast, we had permission to stay out with our Branch President until midnight when the fireworks went off, which was a lot of fun.  His parents came as well, and they aren't members, so we got to talk and teach them a little bit too.  Argentine BBQ, and a lot of it.  I think I gained like 4 kilos...we ate well this week.  

The rest of the week went well, nothing too unexpected until Sunday, when we got to church and there were none of the little cups for the sacrament.  One of the counselors got super upset with President (more on that later, it’s a very interesting soap opera) but I didn't see it as that big of a deal.  We used a couple of styrofoam cups and it solved the problem, it’s not like there are a ton of us anyway.  I was able to give my testimony Sunday on both the importance of the Atonement and the perfectness of the Plan of Happiness.  Then I got to teach primary again, which was another wonderful experience.  This time went better than the last, por lo menos!  

Today we had a Zone Pday, we played a little tennis and ping pong, and just hung out.  The Brazilian sister made stroganoff again, this time with chicken, which was pretty good.  This week should be a good week, we have a lot of teaching to do, and are hoping to end it taking a dip in the baptismal font!  It’s been a while, it’s about time!

Tonight I have an interview with the District President, so that will be fun.  I am glad to hear that yall had a great week, and I loved seeing the pics that we were all "tied" together yesterday!

Love you all!

Elder Mangum

Christmas and Transfers

Elder Mangum and Elder Diaz on P-Day

Hey fam,

Transfers came and went, and I am still in Marcos Juarez.  I did change companions, and am now with Elder Diaz, from Uruguay.  He has 8 months in the mission, a young fella with some fire to baptize, so we will definitely be doing some of that this next month.  

The week went by really fast, with a zone meeting on Wednesday, Christmas Eve on Thursday, Christmas on Friday, and transfer calls on Saturday.  Truth be told, we traveled outside of our area every day this past week minus Tuesday. Christmas Eve we hung out with a family until about midnight, saw the fireworks, and went off to bed.  Christmas was awesome this year, being able to talk to the Skype and see everybody. The rest of the day we hung out and played games with the sisters, sang Christmas songs, and just enjoyed the Christmas spirit.

Church on Sunday went well, I didn't have to teach or talk.  It was the primary program here in the ward, which is always a great experience.  After church, we went and visited a few families for my comp to say goodbye, then our branch president drove us to Bellville, where 2 of the sisters are (it’s about an hour away, he made it in a half an hour) so that we could be there for their baptism.  It was a spur of the moment decision, but it was nice to be able to surprise them and show our support, because only about 4 members from their actual branch showed up.  This morning at 3 a.m. we took a bus to Cordoba for transfers and get my new comp.  My whole district is different, I am now the only one who speaks English.  It will be a very different transfer, that is for sure.

I loved being able to talk with all of y’all on Friday.  My favorite part of Marcos Juarez (so far) is the branch president, who is always down to work and help us out.  Best thing I have eaten here, shrimp! 

Love you,

Elder Mangum

Pictures from the Branch's Christmas Party & Nativity

Joseph!

Merry Christmas from Argentina!

It was great to Skype with Michael on Christmas morning!  

He was able to get a slightly blurry connection and we were so 

excited to be able to see him while we talked!  

 

 

Caroline pretty much just slept through
meeting her big brother!

 

Feliz Navidad!