Service and a new Bishop

Hola fam,

This week went well.  It absolutely flew by. We are now in the last week of the transfer, which is pretty crazy, it feels like I just was picking up my greenie from the mission home! This week my comp and I were both pretty sick, flu-like symptoms, but that didn’t stop us from getting out and working.  Wednesday we had district meeting, which is always fun, I have the best district in the mission.  We did interviews, and then I had to go and write the end of transfer reports.  Before the mission, I had no idea that there would be so much paperwork!  

Thursday we were able to visit one of the families that Elder Campello and I found, and we taught them The Restoration, and committed them to read, pray, and come to church.  Unfortunately, they didn’t come to church. Saturday my comp and I had the spirit of service.  There was an activity planned to help an hermano load up roof tiles in a truck (over 1000) that the elders quorum president had made and then drive them to his own house, so we went to go help.  Unfortunately, they had cancelled the activity on Friday night and had told everybody, except the two gringo missionaries. So we show up at the house of the Elders Quorum President ready to work at 8AM, but nobody else was there.  We ended up helping the Elders Quorum with some work he had, then went to a member of the bishoprics house to go dig a trench, and then went to another member’s house to chop firewood, all before lunchtime!  It was a pretty packed day.

Sunday was interesting.  We got a new bishop in the ward, Obispo Pascualon, an older member that is about 75.  There will definitely be some changes in the way things are run, but it will be good.  I have no doubt that our leaders, both local and churchwide, are called by revelation!

We have planned to go to the temple tomorrow as a district, which will be really good.  The ward handles more of the retention phase of the work.  The plan in the mission is that all recent converts go to the temple to do baptisms ASAP. Nothing too out of the ordinary this week, other than the new bishop.  My favorite time of day is the studies that we do in the mornings.  The toughest part of the schedule is having to go out and work after eating a really heavy lunch.  I am well into my second pair of shoes, there may be a few small holes.

Crazy that it is already time to go back to school.  Summer definitely flew by!  

Love you all!

Elder Mangum