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| Meeting big brother |
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Whataburger - Welcome Home Elder Mangum!
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
Monday, June 20, 2016
36 Hours!
See
y'all in 36 hours! Just got done visiting Carlos Paz, tonight we are in a
hotel, and tomorrow is all travel, all day long. 9 hour layover in BSAS,
it'll be fun. My flight from here in Cordoba leaves at 10:30AM. Love
y’all!!
Tuesday, June 14, 2016
The Penultimate Week
Hey
fam,
The
penultimate week is in the books! It was another good one, I was able to
do a handful of baptismal interviews throughout the week in the zone, and we
had another baptism here in the area, Valeria. I also had a meeting with the
Stake President and our Mission President to talk about opening up a new branch
here in the stake. It will be Salsipuedes, which is part of Rio Ceballos
(several of my baptisms were in that town). The plan is to open it up
within the next 6 months. Missionaries will start working there next
week, 4 days a week. We are pretty excited, it was something I had really
been pushing for ever since they sent me back to the stake. Sunday night I went
to Rio Ceballos and had a meeting with the Bishop there to talk about the
logistics of how we were going to start working there. I also went to
Hermana Martinelli's and had pancakes and syrup, just like the old times!
Yesterday
was our last mission conference with President Alliaud. It was by far the
best one. He and the Hermana told us the story of how they met and got
married, which was hilarious. There was a big emphasis on changes, and
how changes help us grow. But we have to be constant in our work, because
we are baptizing more than we have in a decade in the mission, and we still
have a lot of untapped potential, both in the mission and as individual
persons.
This
week I have to do papers and run around the embassies so they can let me out of
the country legally. I will also have my last interview with President,
Wednesday and Monday I go to the temple. Monday I will go to Carlos
Paz. Thursday or Friday I will go work in Rio Ceballos for the last
time. And if all goes well, we should have a baptism or two this last
week!
Love
yall! See you in a week!
Elder
Mangum
Wednesday, June 8, 2016
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Milagros and Micaela's Baptism
Hey fam,
Another solid week,
Milagros and Micaela got baptized on Saturday. We finished the month of May
with four baptisms as a companionship, not too shabby seeing as the average in
the mission is less than a baptism per companionship. We have 5 more
investigators who could easily arrive to baptism before I head home, 2 of those
being the son of Esther and his wife (Ricardo y Ana). The best part of
recent converts, is that they are the biggest source of future converts!
This week I was on
exchanges in Arguello with Elder Calderon, from Chile, and I was able to go and
do a baptisma interview there. I was hardly in my area, and when I was,
my comp was sick, so there wasn't too much going on in Villa Allende workwise,
but we were still able to have the font full when the weekend came
around. Sunday no investigators showed up which is always
a bummer.
Yesterday we had Mission
Council (which is why I didn't write y’all yesterday). We talked about the
problems in the mission and how to solve them. The topic just about every
month is how do we get our missionaries to realize that "all we care
about" isn't numbers, but numbers is how we measure the work and progress
we are doing. There are missionaries who won't baptize, because they feel
like they're calling was to "retain" or "reactivate."
Truth be told, while those are important aspects of the work, only the
mission president, and via delegation, we have the priesthood keys of baptizing
converts. If we don't do it, nobody else can, that is our primordial
calling. Personally it took me a while to understand that, but once I made the
"click" the mission really picked up rhythm and I started having a
lot more success.
Right now I am on another
exchange, this time in my own area, with Elder Ramirez from Colombia.
Wednesday we have a zone meeting, where we will train on the Doctrine of Christ
and Augmenting our Faith as missionaries. The food has been pretty mas o menos
lately, we have had a lot of cow stomach stew and stuff like that.
Studies right now are Charity and the Atonement. And a little bit of Eternal
Marriage ;)
Love y’all!
Elder Mangum
Monday, May 23, 2016
Esther's Baptism
Hey fam,
Another great week full
of stuff, such as exchanges, zone conferences, and capped off with the baptism
of Esther! Starting off with Monday, I headed up to Rio Ceballos with Elder
Card and was able to work until Wednesday up there.
Monday night we had an FHE
with the stake president's family and Catalina my convert, ending the night
eating pancakes and waffles with real maple syrup, and knock off brand Dr.
Pepper. It was a good Family Home Evening to say the least.
Wednesday we had a zone conference, with half of the mission, with a huge
emphasis on Chapter 10 of PMG. I gave my "Testimonio Fiel"
which is what all of the missionaries in their last transfer do. Thursday
was another day in the office, Friday was the baptism of Esther, and Saturday I
had to accompany an Elder to a different area to work a little bit.
The
week flew by, and when I opened up my email this morning, guess what was
waiting for me? My flight plans for the way home...pretty hard to
believe! I don't want to leave, I love the mission. But they say
that all good things must end. 2 more
baptisms set up for Saturday, Micaela y Milagros, the mom already gave th A-OK
for the baptism.
Love you guys!
Elder Mangum
Monday, May 9, 2016
Mother's Day & Last Transfer
Hey fam,
Another transfer in the books! No crazy changes for my
last transfer, me and my comp stayed the same, so it will be 6 more weeks of
sweat, blood, and tears. Bueno, tears no tanto. As far as the week
went, we taught a bunch of lessons, found some people, threw down a couple more
baptismal dates here for the end of the month, and had Stake Conference.
Stake Conference was fun, got to see a bunch of people from my old area that I
hadn't been able to when I would go there to work. Funny story, while I
was talking to the fam my comp had left with the other assistant to do a
baptismal interview, then they came back when I finished and still hadn't done
the interview, so I went to go do it. I was once again offered the keys
to drive the car, but I humbly declined, we were in a hurry and I'm not THAT
confident in my stick shift driving abilities to go on an Argentine freeway!
The investigators that we are hoping get baptized this weekend
are Leo, Stefania, Micaela, Milagros, Ester, and Ignacio. We will be
working very closely with them this week to help them be ready for their
baptism, my comp and I are super excited. Just about every day we are
finding new people and committing them to baptism, which is awesome.
Today for Pday we played a little soccer, and now it is nap
time. The temple is closed for maintenance until next week, but I have
been going as regularly as President allows us to. My recommend expired
last month, but President already knows. This week we will have a zone
meeting, and talk about our baptismal goal for the month (30) and encourage
everybody to give it their all. Sounds
like y’all had a great week!
Love y’all!
Elder Mangum
Tuesday, May 3, 2016
Put Your Faith to the Test
Hey fam,
It was a good week. No more driving experiences, but we
did throw down a couple more future baptismal dates, we have 7 lined up for May
14th. I was able to do 3 intercambios during the course of the week,
which was a lot of fun. The most eventful of which happened with my buddy
Elder Troncos, I went to his area one night and told him "OK bro, take me
to an investigator who has attended church several times, but hasn't accepted
baptism yet." We went, asked the mom (less active member) if she
wanted her daughter to get baptized. She said yes, I sat down with the
daughter, had a nice chat, and did the interview then and there. That was
on Wednesday, she was baptized on Saturday. We have a big push of urgency
in the mission, and in making things happen. Like in the Old Testament
when they had to carry the Ark of the Covenant across the River Jordan, and the
water didn't part until after they had gotten their feet wet. We have to
put our faith to the test y hacer que las cosas sucedan.
I was also able to do an intercambio in Rio Ceballos on
Friday/Saturday, found one of my old investigators, and put a baptismal date
with her as well. We had lunch with my old buddy the Stake President,
which is always fun. Sunday the Gospel Principles teacher didn't show up, so I
talk lesson 3 with a big focus on faith leads to action, that action being repentance,
and that the first fruits of repentance is Baptism. It was what we
needed, because we had 6 investigators there.
Yesterday was Mission Council, which was good. As a
mission we baptized the most that we have in over 2 years, so we are
progressing. We talked about D&C 101 & a few things that we need
to improve, and then we all played soccer with President as always to end the
day. All in all a solid week.
Sounds like y’all had a pretty crazy week! This next
weekend is Stake Conference, so it will be great to see everybody from Rio
Ceballos at once again. I might call on Sunday, if I do it will be
between 1 and 3 your time :)
Love y’all!
Elder Mangum
Bowling on P-Day last week
Monday, April 25, 2016
Driving
Hey fam,
Another great week! We didn't have any baptisms, we had a
few hiccups during the week en cuanto a ellos, but it’s all good, we hope to
have at least one more before the end of the month. This week I did an
exchange with one of our elders in an area called Unquillo, and was able to
participate in their ward council, which is always "fun."
This
week we also had interviews with President! That was definitely the
highlight...mainly because he gave me and my comp the keys to his car to go
pick up lunch! I can now say that I have driven here in Argentina. I'll
send the pictures next week. It was only about 6 blocks, but it was stick
shift...so that was a first. Didn't stall out though, which is more than
my companion can say! We had a good interview too, he asked me what I had
learned in my mission, and I replied by telling him that I still had 2 months
left to learn, don't run me out before my time! He laughed and we talked about
other things, including opening a new area.
Friday we did another exchange, this time I was with my buddy
Hansen from the MTC, we threw down a couple of baptismal dates and found a
bunch of people, it was cool to see that we couldn't talk to each other in
English, everything would come out naturally in español. I started the
Book of Mormon in Spanish again, every time I read it there is something new to
get out of it. A good week all in all, not too eventful aside from going
for a spin in President's car. Hope you are all doing well!
Love you all!
Elder Mangum
Monday, April 18, 2016
Selene's Baptism
Hey fam,
Another week, another couple of baptisms! We are being
extremely blessed here in Zona Sierras. Monday was a great day, we went
to Rio Ceballos and an old buddy of mine, Chango Funes, made us the good ole
Argentine BBQ. The whole zone came out, as well as a bunch of YSA, we played a
ton of basketball, and challenged a group of guys to a soccer game, we ended up
beating them (it helps when we have the All World team- Brazil, Argentina,
Peru, Chile, etc.) Then we did a splash, which is where the whole zone takes a
few hours and contacts people in one of the area. I went with Elder
Willis, we contacted a family and within 10 minutes we had put the baptismal
date for the 30/4, they were ready and dispuesto. He and I spent the night in
Rio Ceballos, then headed back to my area, where we proceeded to put 2 more
baptismal dates (one of which being Selene, who was baptized on Saturday!). It
was a great intercambio, I was in the same zone with Willis when he started the
mission, and it is crazy to see how he has grown and improved.
The rest of the week was pretty normal, trying to prepare
everything for the baptisms, doing a couple of interviews and all that good
stuff. Saturday a 2 girls were baptized, one that was an investigator of
the sisters, who I did the interview and she asked me to baptize her.
That is always a great experience. The other was Selene, who one of the ward
members baptized. We have 3 more baptisms lined up for this weekend in
our area, so we hope that all will go well! Scripture of the day: D&C 18:42. Al agua no mas!
I am glad to hear that everybody is doing well. Church
here went great, my comp is a professional piano player, so he has taken over
the piano playing duties. I am eating mas a menos, my teeth are probably
jacked up, and my shoes have holes in them. Life is great!
Love y’all!
Elder Mangum
Monday, April 11, 2016
Gabriel's Baptism
Hey fam,
It was a good week, capped off with the baptism of
Gabriel! It was a long week, trying to get him ready and plan everything,
and we ended the week with him and 2 others getting baptized from the other
missionaries and the sisters. Elder George and I had another successful
week in terms of finding and teaching, in addition to the baptism. This weekend
we hope to have a couple more, namely Selene, Don Gally, and Ester. Last
night we gave the YSA FHE message, which was a lot of fun, most of the people
there were from Rio Ceballos, including Catalina my convert! We talked
about 1 Nefi 3:7, that it is a scripture that has nothing to do with obedience,
sino with testimony and humility! Study it!
Today I am headed back to Rio Ceballos for Pday, we are going to
have a BBQ next to the river, play some ball, then the whole zone is going to
go out and contact people for a few hours. Then I will go on an exchange
until Wednesday with one of our DLs, and we have a zone meeting/training on
Wednesday morning. We are getting halfway through the month, so it is
important to keep the fire going to work, work, work!
Glad to hear that everybody is doing well! Love you all!
Elder Mangum
Baptism Pictures
Birthday Pictures
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| Alma & Elder Mangum |
Monday, April 4, 2016
Birthday and Conference
Hey Fam,
Another
month in the books. This week was great, Elder George and I really get
along well and we put up some decent numbers. With my new comp we are moving at a pace that I really enjoy. We had more new investigators last week than anybody else in the mission, with 19. We are both "experienced" so we want to take advantage of every moment and baptize the most people possible.
Wednesday was my birthday,
and we celebrated by finding 7 new investigators and eating ice cream that
night. Nothing too fancy, tonight I have a belated birthday BBQ with some
of the YSA in the ward.
We
were able to put a couple of baptismal dates, so we are hoping that this
weekend to have a full font. Gabriel and Selene por lo menos, if not
more. On Friday we had a zone meeting, where we set the vision for the month
and how we are going to fulfill our baptismal goals. It was a lot about
working effectively, taking advantage of every moment. If an investigator
isn't progressing, we gotta drop 'em (as harsh as it sounds). The Lord is
hastening his work, and we have to hasten our pace to keep up.
Hey, btw, my last area Marcos Juarez was part of the District Belleville Argentina. It just got announced that in a month, they will make it the Argentina Bellville Stake! Crazy that I was a part of that for 4 months!
General Conference was fantastic, for the first time I was able to watch all 5 sessions
in English, which was sweet. I particularly enjoyed Elder Holland's talk,
and the many, many talks on the importance of family and making temple attendance a priority and a habit. Something I definitely have a goal of doing when I get back home.
Hope
everybody is doing well, and some final words from the prophet this weekend,
Choose the Hard Right, and not the Easy Wrong. The decisions we make on
a daily basis have an eternal impact.
Love
ya!
Elder Mangum
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| Printable from adashofsalter.com |
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Transfers and Easter
Hey fam,
Another transfer come and gone. I am still in the same
area, but my new companion is Elder George from Holiday, Utah. I have
about 2 months more in the mission than he does. He is an old friend, we
have been in the same zone several times, I remember when he was brand new in
La Rioja, we did a few exchanges together, and now we are companions, crazy how
things work out. The zone changed quite a bit, one of my buddies from the MTC,
Elder Hansen, is now in my zone whitewashing an area and training, so it should
be a fun transfer. The week went well, minus the baptism in our own
ward. We had the font filled, but there were some last minute
complications and we ended up not baptizing anybody, maybe after General
Conference we will be able to. However in the zone we had 5 baptisms,
including one in the river in Rio Ceballos! I was able to do the
interview for the guy, who has really given his life a complete turn around
from what it was before. It is amazing to see how the Atonement can help
anybody and everybody who allows it to.
The Easter concert went really well. We had over 1000
people show up. The Spirit was super strong, with the music and the testimonies
from Presidente and Hermana Alliaud. When we sang Handel´s Messiah to end
in Spanish, everybody ended in tears, it was almost overwhelming the witness
that He will reign forever and ever. King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.
There is no doubt in my mind that is the truth.
Yesterday we had mission council, and for the 3rd straight
month, our zone baptized more than all of the others. We hope to keep up the
streak here in April, I am really excited for this month, we have some really
great missionaries and with General Conference coming up this weekend, we will
all have a spiritual feast and be ready to work, work, work afterwards.
It is great to hear that y’all are doing well and staying
busy. Love you all!
Elder Mangum
Monday, March 21, 2016
Exchanges
Hey fam,
Today was a pretty solid week, the highlight being able to go
work in Rio Ceballos and put a couple of baptismal dates with my old
investigators that I left there. Didn't get to visit my converts or a ton of
members, but that will come in time, I will be here until the end of my mission
(unless something crazy happens on Saturday with transfers, but I doubt
it).
Tuesday I went with Elder Christensen to my old area, and we put
in work. I showed him around Salsipuedes, one of the towns that is also
in the area, a place where President is thinking about opening up a branch
there again. I worked quite a bit there a couple years ago (its fun to say
that) and it really has progressed a ton. The only thing different about
my old area is that the missionaries no longer live in the same apartment,
which was weird, but the new one is pretty fancy, so nobody is
complaining. Wednesday we had a zone meeting, where my comp and I gave a
small training on asking inspired questions and extending strong
commitments. And if we commit somebody to do something without verifying
afterwards, it's as if we had never done it in the first place.
The rest of the week was business as usual, visiting and
teaching the people we have set up for baptism this next weekend. At
church on Sunday we had 4 investigators at church, Natalia, Jessica, Serene,
and Gabriel. We were expecting three more, but they couldn't make it for
various reasons, but they will be getting baptized in April now so its all
good. We still hope to have at least 3 in the water this weekend, and in the
zone at least ocho. The choir is coming along really well, y'all need to
look up "Hallellujah Motab virtual choir." We sound like them
now.
In my pdays we usually hit up downtown Cordoba because we are so
close. We teach at the temple once a week mas o menos, on the grounds or
in the waiting room. The choir practice is in downtown Cordoba, not too far,
its the place where we always have mission and zone conferences. The stake
BOM/FHE challenge has died down, the first couple weeks went well, but I don't
know if we will be getting to the goal that we set with the Stake President..uh
oh. All the contacting we do on the street is the Easter Initiative. The 82
year old grandpa didn't get to church, but next week he should.
Sounds like you all had a busy week, and have another busy one
ahead of yall! Love hearing how everybody is doing.
Love y'all,
Elder Mangum
Hallelujah Chorus Video
P-Day Pictures
Monday, March 14, 2016
Baptismal Interviews & Music
Hey fam,
Another week in the books. It was a good one, I did
another baptismal interview. We ended up with 3 investigators in the
chapel, all with baptismal dates for the 26th of March, so we are pretty
excited. Jessie, Milagros, and Micaela. Plus we found a boatload of
new investigators to start teaching this week.
Crazy stories this week, I don't have any. We did have a
zone conference with President and two other zones, we recieved trainings based
on the talks given in the worldwide missionary training in January. It
was enlightening, a big focus on the doctrine of Christ. The importance of
baptizing everybody.
Friday we had a huge BBQ and I did another baptismal interview,
he got baptized on Sunday night,the nephew of a member. It was cool because all
of his family came, and none of them are members, and the grandpa (who is 82)
asked "Can I be baptized right now too?" But he was dead
serious, he said that he felt like it was the right thing to do and that it was
what God wanted. He lives in our area, so we will definitely be working
with him this week! Another miracle in the MAC.
You asked about the missionary choir I am in. We will perform for the 5 stakes of Cordoba Capital for a big
regional Easter conference. The whole choir sings 8 songs - Hallelujah,
Come though Fount, He is Risen, I Believe in Christ, Simple Gifts, Bound for
the Promised Land, Lillies of the Field, and Where Can I turn for Peace.
Then you have various duets, solos, etc. But I'm not a good enough singer to be
asked to do that haha. They actually did cuts, and kicked people
out of the choir who couldn't sing...luckily the guy in charge of doing the
cuts was Elder Lakey, my son, so he didn't cut me haha. And I don't sing
THAT bad, I can match the guy next to me at least.
Speaking of music, I am the ward pianist now! I have the gift of
tongues, and music is definitely a foreign tongue! I play the piano 10 times
better in the mission now (having hardly ever practiced) than I ever did back
home. Pretty crazy when I sit down and start playing. I actually
help out a little in the choir with piano as well (playing the parts, the easy
stuff).
This week is key to end March on a high note and start the next
transfer on a good foot. Transfers are the 28th, this week I get to write
reports on all 22 missionaries in the zone. And exchanges with Rio
Ceballos and the assistants, it will be a packed week.
Glad to hear that everybody is doing well! Tell the fam in
Dallas hi!
Love you all!
Elder Mangum
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