Feitoria - First Area and First Baptism!

My first area, Feitoria, is pretty amazing. Second day in the field, we had a marriage and then their baptism and I baptized Bruna, the wife, while Elder Favoretti baptized Renan, the husband. They have three children, only one that is over 8- Edwardo who is 12, but already baptized.

My companion Elder Favoretti is from Brasil, I can´t remember where right now, somewhere somewhat near Sao Paulo. He only got baptized a couple years ago & is just over halfway through his mission. He has a goal of baptizing 70 people on his mission and has baptized almost 40. Apparently I´m already at 2. Elder Favoretti doesn´t speak any English which is hard but good for me because all I wanna do is speak English. I think Favoretti likes me a lot. Apparently we’ve already obtained more contacts than he did in two transfers in this same area. I like Favoretti too. He played professional soccer from 14-17 but his mom didn´t like him being away so much so she didn´t renew his contract. He is the only member in his family. Our apartment is over this pharmacy, I like it.

We took a train from the mission home and then a bus to our area, we are close enough to Porto Alegre that we get to go to the temple whenever that is.  Also, we didn´t get a night at the mission home. After some training/meeting Elder Favoretti, we travelled home, unpacked, and went to bed because it was time. Then I got right to work. Already have some serious blisters on my feet, but no pain no gain am I right?  

September 20 is like this sort of Independence day for Rio Grande do Sul, the state I´m in, when they tried to leave Brasil but failed, but they celebrate it every year, so Friday and Saturday we had activities at the church for this which was pretty fun. Met a lot of people whose names I don´t remember. We eat lunch at a different member´s house everyday. 

Lots of investigators/nonmembers were at the activities that we went to, so Bishop Varken (maybe Warken but they all say Varken) is pretty happy with us. He also made me give a talk on Sunday, I´m glad he told me Thursday so I was able to prepare. I talked about How the Atonement isn´t just for sins, but also for our weaknesses, using Alma 7:11-13 and Ether 12:27. Feitoria is the name of our ward too. Anyways, we brought an investigator (Gabriel) to church that we met knocking on doors my very first day.

I think the language is coming. I understood the less actives who we ate dinner with last night a lot better than I understood the member who we ate lunch with my first day. I enjoy talking with kids more than adults because kids like to try and teach me Portuguese and test me. Sunday after church (which starts at 8:30 here and for some reason there was no power in the whole church) we ate lunch with this family. Lasagna, but not as good as yours. We also played a lot of Uno which it took me a while to start winning, but I won like 5 times. The only person who didn´t win was Favoretti.

Also at church we had 3 confirmations - Renan and Bruna who were baptized Thursday, and Roberto who was baptized last Saturday, before my time. I didn´t even try to do that, I definitely don´t have the vocabulary for that. During the other two hours of church and really the other speakers I only got very tiny bits, but I still felt the Spirit. I have to focus with all of my mind and strength to even understand a little and I can’t not focus for a bit so I’m exhausted and tired of Portuguese by the end of every day.

This mission is hard, but also not that hard because it is so good. There is a lot of pain and aches, but the strength of the Spirit that I felt after I pulled Bruna out of the water was like I had just been baptized again. I think we both had tears in our eyes, she actually started crying.

The most challenging thing is definitely Portuguese, because like, I can think the word but it won´t come out of my mouth correctly/smoothly, like I know how it supposed to be said but for whatever reason my mouth fails to move that way. It is way more naisly than English, Portuguese is.

I think we´re about to give service. Favoretti can´t get too in-depth with me, or at least, I don´t understand what he is saying when he is explaining, but I think we´re going to help a member move apartments. Also it rains a lot here. It´s raining right now. I think this is a good summary of my week, very nonchronological.

Love you,

Elder Mangum

PS: Everyone complemented me on my talk and my firm voice- there was no microphone because there was no power in the church. After my talk, I felt the Spirit strongly testify that don´t worry, it´ll come. Your weaknesses will become strengths. I may have started tearing up a bit. Love y’all!

Wedding before the baptisms

Letter from Porto Alegre Mission Home

We've made it to Porto Alegre.  The mission home is like an apartment inside this nice building.  We had a really delicious lunch there that a chef made with a good strawberry chocolate dessert.  I don't know where I'll be sent yet, we find out in a couple of hours.  

The President and his wife, The Jones, seem really cool.  I got to ride in the back of the President's car from the mission home to the office with Elder Houser, Sister Jones driving and 3 sisters, 2 Brazilian and 1 from Mexico.  I got to ride in the trunk.  The van for everyone was running late so I was a part of the lucky elite few that didn't have to wait outside in the heat for it; instead I got to ride in the trunk of a car.

This past week was a good one.  We had another set of divisions and I was with a Brazilian from Porto Alegre, Elder Samersla and a 3 weeker American going to Manouse (the Amazons) named Elder Taylor.  That was fun.  We also had a lot of end of MTC activities.  It was pretty good.  We get an hour of email time out here.  I realized that I don't know how to send photos from my camera, if you could find out, that would be good.  My last Wednesday/P-Day in the CTM I sent a letter home, y'all should get it in a couple weeks.  It has my schedule at the CTM and the description of people in my district. Anyways, I love y'all and am pumped for the field.

Love,
Elder Trevor Mangum

My trainer:Elder Favoretti in Novo Hamburgo!

Travel Corespondance from Mission

Your son arrived yesterday.

We had a great time getting to know him throughout the trainings and meetings. He should be completing his first night in his area right now. He is in Novo Hamburgo, RS.

If you have any questions you can write to this email.

Have a great evening,

Elder Bangerter

Secretário Executivo

Missão Brasil Porto Alegre Norte

A Igreja de Jesus Cristo dos Santos dos Últimos Dias

Independence Day

We went to the Campinas temple again this week, but they didn´t have enough English headphones for us, so while I was fortune enough to have them, other did not. However, I was listening half on and half off and by the end had them completely off. I can understand church Portuguese pretty decent. We had to do the veil in Portuguese without a card which was a bit difficult, but also good. I listened to the speakers at the devotionals Wednesday and Sunday without headphones and while I don´t understand all of it, I understand the big picture and stuff. I don´t remember who spoke Wednesday, but Sunday was a young mission president in Sao Paulo.  On Sunday I had to give the lesson in Priesthood on Christlike attributes, so I just did jeopardy and we had some fun.

Yesterday we started out our infield training, had a TRC with a member where we talked a lot and taught a little message and we´ll watch the recording of that today. I have splits again this week, I´m in another trio with a third weeker American and a Brasilian. We wash our clothes for the last time at the MTC Friday I think. Maybe it´s Saturday. 

We only get to go proselyting once at the CTM, so that was it the other week. This week went by fast. P-Day was pretty fun, my district and I toured the entire edge of the boundaries and got pastels. I´m not really sure how to describe pastels, it is like a fried salty dough on the outside on then whatever on the inside. I got a breakfast one, like a bacon, ham, and egg. It was decent. If we go again this week, though, I´m definitely grabbing a dessert one with chocolate inside. 

Thursday was cool too because it was Brasilian Independence Day, so they dressed up the cafeteria, gave us a really nice lunch with steak with cheese on it and french fries and gave us sorvete after. I love chocolate sorvete.

Nothing big happened for the rest of the fifth week. Weird to think about that the next time I´ll be emailing you, I´ll be in my mission because we leave super early next Tuesday morning. I think we fly. Elder Houser was talking to someone who was leaving to Porto Alegre South and they left at 5:45 in the morning to the airport and left at like 8. The days are definitely long but the weeks are going by fast now!

Love you all!

Elder Trevor Mangum

Sao Paulo Temple, Proselyting and Nathan Pacheco

Sao Paulo temple

 

We went to the Sao Paulo temple this past week and did another endowment session, but they made us use headphones because the session was in Portuguese. The Sao Paulo temple is a lot smaller and is surrounded by city. I like Campinas more, but the inside of Sao Paulo has some cool window glass drawings. 

P-Day I got some good food, an açai ice cream bowl and some meat kabobs. Tomorrow our district plans on walking the perimeter together and getting pastels which is supposed to be similar to kolaches only it is fried, I guess. I´ll find out tomorrow. 

I didn´t hear about the museum in Rio de Janeiro burning, that is sad. The street that we went proselyting on had a museum on it, someone said the street was like the Time Square of Sao Paulo. My companion and I got five referrals. We made sure to talk to a lot of people. I understood the gist of what people were saying most of the time, although I was wishing that I couldn´t when this old dude was trying to tell us that we didn´t believe in God. It was filling me with raiva, some anger. But it is amazing how much I already understand, the good and the bad, haha. 

We had a devotional Wednesday night by a guy named Nathan Pacheco which was different because he was a singer and so he sang some and talked some, in English! He is from Virginia and served in Brazil. Then Thursday we had a special devotional during the day. I was so stoked because I thought it was gonna be an apostle, but nope, it was only the Area Seventy, which was still great. He talked about like mission culture and making sure to be a part of the culture of miracles, of loving the people and having high expectations. Sunday Devotional was the Mission President of one of the Sao Paulo missions and I listened to him without the headphones to translate and understood basically everything he said. He talked about how the people are prepared to meet us and had some cool stories.

Caroline is the real MVP in our family, making sure people don´t steal my spot and carrying out my legacy of always winning. It is great to hear how she defends me even after being gone a month. Feels like I´ve been here forever and am super close to my district, but it also doesn´t seem like it has been that long since when I said bye at the airport. Yet two weeks from today I´ll be in Porto Alegre. Only one more email day at the MTC after today!

Anyway, I love y’all, Boa sorte!

Elder Mangum

Nathan Pacheco

Elder Mangum and his number 1 fan, Caroline

David Archuleta and Nathan Pacheco - The Prayer