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

MTC Splits

We went to the Campinas temple again this past week. Bought myself the scriptures in Portuguese and a hymn book. My district is doing fine. I think we´re singing this song called Um a Um tomorrow for the equivalent of Brazil David Archeleta. 

This week was pretty good. They seem to go by quicker and quicker. All of the Brazilians that arrived with us left this past night so we got some goodbye photos and stuff last night. This week we had 2 devotionals. On Wednesday it was an Elder Christofferson video from the Provo MTC made the day as well as a great talk by his wife that I really liked, filled with applicable stuff for us. Then Sunday, there was a Facebook live event that we tuned into with Ballard and Soares who are in Sao Paulo and were making the livestream somewhere, yet they haven´t come and unfortunately aren´t planning on coming to the MTC here.

This week we also had splits which was pretty fun. I was in a trio with an American, Elder Olsen who lived in Uruguay the past two years prior to the mission because his parents are mission presidents there so he knew Spanish fluently when he came here and was on his sixth week anyways, and a Brasilero named Elder Costa who is the nephew of Soares and can play the piano really well. He is going to Porto Alegre Sul, so close but not quite. It was also evident from my splits that I´ve still got a lot to go with the Portuguese, both speaking and understanding. We do these splits as an activity in the MTC. We teach a companionship and then they teach us. We did this Thursday-Saturday midday. We planned our lesson, ate lunch, taught, then were taught. But we actually get to proselyte this Friday outside the MTC at some busy street in Sao Paulo. Should be fun! 

Cool to hear that everything is going grand back at home, glad I've got Caroline as my protector. 😊

Lots of Love,

Elder Mangum

Week 2

The temple was pretty awesome, we only did sealings and it was in Portuguese so that was a bit difficult.  Tomorrow we get to do an Endowment session.  P-Day was also pretty fun, I explored some of Sao Paulo with Elder Lehmann, got some ice cream ("Sorbete" for only 2.50 reais, so really cheap and it was pretty good!) and I took some pictures.  Thursday was also cool, we got to check in with the Federal Police so I am legal!

I memorized the First Vision (which was a bit of a struggle) and Moroni's Promise (not as difficult) this week.  We also had a member of our district go home last week because he couldn't get more than a couple hours of sleep a night and it was just too much with the lack of sleep.  He is a great guy and we miss him.  

My daily schedule varies from day to day, but we get up at 6:30 (except for temple days when it is 5:30) and lights out at 10:30, with tons of activities in between. Today is actually our 2nd day of doing laundry, they space it out far.  We wash again on Friday or Saturday this week, so it varies.  Good thing we are washing today, on my last pair of socks and I had to reuse a white shirt yesterday and today.  Luckily they've got machines to wash and dry. I am not not looking forward to having to do it by hand later on!

Church is still three hours, but it is broken up, like we have normal sacrament and then the first half of talks are 4 talks in Portuguese- 2 elders and 2 sisters- from the district that is on their last week, and then an intermediate hymn, and then a talk from a member of the branch presidency and their wife in English. Then there is a goal setting in your classroom with your district for the week, then Priesthood which is in English. Then I think we had a little study time and then like a sunday school thing which is also in English. Scattered in here is lunch too. Then in the afternoon they play a film. Thus far it has been Legacy and then a movie about the Americas during Christ´s life (from his birth to right when he visited them). Then that night there is a devotional. The devotionals are always in Portuguese and we have to wear headphones to listen in English and sometimes the translator isn´t that good, like we miss out on jokes and things like Sunday with the Area 70. Luckily, Wednesday they played an old devotional of Elder Holland, the one you actually put a quote from in the journal, about why is it so hard, and what they played through our headphones was Elder Holland which was awesome. I really needed that. 

Things are improving, or at least, I'm getting used to them.  Tuesday was rough but this whole week has gone by way faster than the eternity that was the first week.  And while I don't think I learned as much as I did the first week, or at least I don't feel like I did, I can now pray in Portuguese.  Anyway, glad to hear things are going great back at home.  

Love, Elder Mangum

First Week at the CTM

My first week was pretty good. I'm not gonna lie, the CTM is the hardest thing I've ever done.  It is a 16 hour work day doing 18-22 different activities a day.  The leaders here don't speak very much English which can be frustrating, but it also helps a lot with Portuguese.  I'm surprised by how much Portuguese I've learned in a week, like I already have the missionary purpose, the baptismal invitation and the points of the Restoration in Portuguese memorized and I can pray (poorly) and hold a small conversation in Portuguese.  The gift of tongues is very real. 

Our district is so much fun. You get like 2 or 3 times of physical activity a week where you have to run 5 laps then you can play volleyball or basketball or run more or whatever. My companion is fun, Elder Lehmann from Provo Utah. He worked for a year before coming out, got a girlfriend back home, and will be starting his first year at BYU with me. He also got a 35 on his ACT. The food is fine, a bit repetitive. Haven´t eaten any beans yet though! Breakfast is honestly the worst, it is literally cheese, ham, and like a roll and if you´re lucky and early enough to breakfast, you can use one of the like panini makers and grill it, if not then it stinks. 


Anyways, it is so so so much fun here at the CTM (centro de treinamento missionario), sorry for any spelling errors, Brazillian keyboard and all. We´ve had to teach an investigator twice which is really hard when you don´t know the language. They push you really hard here and sometimes it is literally impossible to achieve what they are asking but the effort of trying hard to reach what they set blesses you so much in learning and whatnot. Customs was fine, didn´t like declare anything, they just looked at my passport and sent me through. We can only take pictures on Wednesday which is our actual P-Day, only everyone has to email on Tuesday because there are so many missionaries.  They spread out laundry so I actually did my laundry yesterday. Elder Lehmann, Houser, and Knebel and I share a room and we combined all our darks into one and then did our whites separately. Everyone is a part of the choir.  We have choir right before the devotional on Wednesdays and Sundays and it is required to come to that.  I don't mind, it's fun to sing. The devotionals can be difficult though because we have to listen with headphones because you know, we're in Brazil.  I do hope that an Apostle or someone comes and visits during my stay here though, that would be awesome.

We go to the temple on Wednesday morning too and we switch between the Campenas and the Sao Paulo one with the Brazileros, only the Sao Paulo one is closed the next couple of weeks for cleanings so I think we will all go to the Campenas one tomorrow. We´ve got to get up an hour early, at 5:30 tomorrow to go to the temple. We also can´t upload pictures to the computer at the CTM so you´ll have to wait 6 weeks for any pictures. 

The most surprising thing was on day one.  We get here and they give us a bag with stuff including name tags.  So we put it on and Elder Knebel who is now my DL and will be going to Porto Alegre North, goes 'Elder Mangum, that isn't right!"  They accidently gave me the Sister Mangum name tags!  We all laughed and they quickly switched them because the Utah people got to the CTM a couple hours after everyone else.  Coincidentally, Sister Mangum is one of the two missionaries in my district. In my district in Elder Lehmann and I, Elder Knebel and Houser, Elder Berkheimer and Carrell (all 8 of us going to Porto Alegre Norte), Sister Mangum and Bucio, and Elder Frost and Stoker, all 4 going to Landrina. 

Things are good here, hard, but fun. I love all the people and getting to meet new people and learn Portuguese. I´m very surprised at times by how much I know, Spanish helps definitely with conjugation and some of the cognates, but I have learned a ton in the past week, like it is crazy for me to think that a week ago, I knew no Portuguese. It feels like I´ve been here forever and I love it, although I am ready to get out of this building tomorrow and get to walk around some.

Much love,

Elder Mangum 

Safe Arrival

Elder Mangum left Houston at 6 pm last night, flying to Miami, had a short 45 minute layover and caught a connecting overnight flight to São Paulo, Brazil, landing at 8:30 am.  He took a shuttle bus to the Brazil Missionary Training Center where he will spend the next 6 weeks studying Portuguese and missionary training before heading to the Porto Alegre area.

Centro De Treinamento Missionario - Brasil

He was able to send a short email home letting us know he arrived safely - 

My flight was good! There was one sister missionary on my first flight and two on my second. I haven´t met my district yet or my companion, but he will be Elder Lehmann. Our P-Day is Tuesday. The president of the MTC will post on Facebook in the group´: Centro De Treinamento Missionario - Brasil. Will write more then to everyone on P-Day, only can write this much. Also this keyboard is hard to use.

Love, Elder Mangum

Headed to Brazil

Today Elder Trevor Mangum left for Brazil.  We love you Trevor!

Leaving Home

Traditional Cracker Barrel send off meal

1-2-3 Sure Love You!

 

Airport NASA Cow - Last Group Picture

Saying Goodbye 

See you in 2 years Elder Mangum!!