Hey - I am really in Broomfield :)

Hola!!! Oh my gosh! Thank you for all your emails! It is my favorite part of the whole week!! Ah! I have so much to tell you! Where to begin?? 

Ok, first of all, when I first emailed you, I thought I was serving in Boulder... turns out I am serving about 20 minutes from Boulder in a town called Broomfield. (So we are in the Boulder zone and stake). It is a pretty small area we are serving in. We are only serving in one ward: the Broomfield 3rd ward. And we are LITERALLY on the edge of the mission boundraries! Literally across the street is the Denver North Mission! It is crazy! And I LOVE the area! And everyone is sooooooo stinking nice!! Like I love them so much :) The members here are amazing! I can tell I am going to FOREVER have a relationship with the beautiful people here! I was bummed to be serving in an english area at first, but not anymore! It is making it so much easier to communicate! I am not saying I don't want to serve in a Spanish area, CAUSE I DO, but this was a great place for me to start and to get comfortable! We don't have any investigators right now... :( We are working on it, but as of now we have been going around and getting to know the ward members and it has seriously been so great! We eat dinner with members EVERY night! And they feed us well!! Haha! 

So, yes! I met a family who's son lived in the basement apartment of Kevin and Mary's house! SO crazy! Their names are the Demetter's! They are some of the nicest people I have every met! They recognized my last name and asked if I was related, and sure enough I was! So they called their son after we met and told him to call Kevin and Mary and to have them call you and let you know! I also have another crazy connection... I am currently living with a family who's name is Allred. And guess what... the Dad is Brother Allred’s brother! What?!? So it is Sterling, Parker, and Madison’s family! SO crazy!!! Sister Allred is super nice and speaks Spanish. We are only living with them for a couple more weeks. There is another family that wanted us to live with them, but their son is currently at home and leaves to BYU in the next week or so. When he leaves, then we can move in. Their name is the Engstrum family. They are so stinking cute! I am so excited to live with them!!

So, there was a big ward party on Saturday! It was a Luau! We helped set it up. It was in the church parking lot. And when the party started, there was a HUGE double rainbow! It was sooooo pretty!!!! Ah! I loved it! It was perfect for a Luau themed party! So... for the party, the missionaries were asked to sing... and you know that is not something I like to do at all in front of people! Especially in front of 200 people!! Ah! So I was really out of my comfort zone, but you know what, it was great! A sister in the ward, Sister Kaiser, called us on Friday and asked if we could sing with the Elders in our ward. So we went to her house to practice a couple of times. Her son, who is the same age as Max. sang with us and played the Ukelele. I had never heard the song before. It is really cool! You need to look it up on YouTube! It is called, "How Can I Be, Uke". There are 3 guys singing it. THey sound way better then we did! Haha! But it was great! The party was so fun! There was a polynesian family who did all the performing. The hauka, fire dance, you name it! It was great! And they even roasted pigs! Sorry Lennon, haha! It was pretty crazy looking! 

Then Sunday! Sunday was probably my favorite day in the field! We went to ward council at 7:30, sacrament at 9, and then we had to stay after for another missionary collaboration meeting with the Ward Missionary Leader and a few other people. And we were there until 1:30. SO from 7:30-1:30! And that whole time with NO food! We didn't have time to eat... but it was great! I enjoyed all the meetings so much. And even relief society! I wasn't sure I would every enjoy relief society, turns out I do! Haha! 

Here is a funny story... so yesterday we were visiting with this older lady. We went over to visit with her and share a message. WE started with a prayer, and when Sister Jarvis (my companion, who i absolutely LOVE) said Amen, the lady kept her head down and her arms folded..I guess she is deaf or very hard-of-hearing. It was seriously about 2 minutes after we said Amen and she was still down!! We didn't know what to do! So we tried asking her questions and talking to her but she never responded. Eventually she put her head up and we just carried on like nothing happened. Oh my! SO FUNNY!!! She is a sweet (very deaf) lady :)

There is one guy in the ward who grew up in Alpine and went to American Fork High School. HE gives me grief for going to Timpview, and calls me Timpview now, haha! And I call him Caveman. It is pretty funny! I am just loving the connections I am making with people! Well I think that is it... I am sure there is more that I will think of later.

I know this is exactly where I am supposed to be!!! 

I LOVE YOU ALL SO DANG MUCH! 

Con Amor,

Hannah Banana :)

Broomfield, Colorado

Ward Luau - I LOVED IT!!!

YES - I helped set up!!

Check it out - it was actually a double rainbow!

100% out of my comfort zone :)

Sweet!!!

DON'T LOOK LENNON!!!

A super CHEESEY selfie of me and my great companion :)

I am sleeping on a LoveSac and speaking English in Boulder! - August 20

I AM HERE!! Estoy aqui! Colorado does not at all look like what I was expecting! It is really flat!! And corn fields for miles! It is really pretty! But not at all what I was expecting.

On my flight to Denver, I sat next to a lady from Mississippi. She is a Southern Baptist. Her name is Martha. We talked literally the entire 2 hours!! It was so great! I got to know her pretty well. She made it clear that she did not want me to try and convert her. But she asked me lots of questions and, by the end, she had so much respect for me and for all missionaries and the work we are doing. She told me she was going to pray for me. It really was such a wonderful experience!

So, Ferdie's parents did not pick us up from the airport. But President Brown and his wife did - and I LOVE THEM!!! Pres. Brown is super tall, extremely nice and very funny! I am so grateful he is my Mission President and for the relationship I can tell I will have with him and Sister Brown.

So... I AM SERVING IN BOULDER! And in English... if we meet any Spanish speakers we can teach them, but I am officially English in this area. Esta Bien! My companion's name is Hermana Jarvis. She is super nice! She has been out for 9 months but has only served in one area her entire mission! She served in Greeley, which is where Ally is right now! All of the girls from CCM that came with me went to English speaking areas except Ally. I am fine with it. I am trying to have a good attitude. My companion speaks really good Spanish and told me we will work on it while we are together so I will be prepared if I get called to a Spanish area in the future. I am here to serve Heavenly Father, so that is what I will do :)

We are currently homeless... haha! We stayed the night with some other missionaries at a members home just outside of our area. The lady we were supposed to stay with told us after we got to her home last night that she isn't taking any more missionaries... So our Zone Leaders and Bishop are trying to find us a home! Haha!We don't really know what to do today either... we don't have a car, it is in the shop... So we are going to tag a long with other sisters. I think we are going to do a service project after emailing! We are just kinda playing everything by ear...

I am the 4th person Hermana Jarvis has trained, all of which took place in Greeley. She is brand new here in Boulder, so we are trying to figure everything out together. We are actually emailing from a library. Even though it is Tuesday, we get to email because it was transfers yesterday and no one got to write home. So today all the missionaries get a little time to send out some emails.

I am soooooo tired!! I crashed last night! I slept on a LoveSac last night and it was super comfy!! My companion slept on the couch. She probably thought I was so boring, I was so tired I couldn’t even talk. I only had 2 hours sleep the night before! I don't know how long we will be staying at this members home... maybe 1 day, 3 days, 1 week. No se... Pero, este familia es muy amable! And I think that Seth and Laurel live really close to where I am serving! So tell her to email me!!

I am trying to think of what else to tell you... OH!! Mom, in my interview with Pres. Brown he kept saying how great the letter you wrote him was!! He LOVED IT! And wanted me to make sure to tell you! He said the nicest things to me! I cried... haha! It was wonderful! Pres. Brown is a wonderful man and I am so thrilled to get to know him!!!

Well, I love you guys! I will try and send some pics real quick! I get 2 hours to email in the field!! YAY! But a thing keeps popping up every 5 minutes and it says I only have 5 minutes left... If it doesn't kick me off then I can email you until 12. But if it does, then I only have a couple more minutes... maybe. I really have no idea! Haha! I will try and send pics from the CCM and Boulder really quick!

Love you all!!!!

-Hermana Hannah Mangum :)

Las Hermanas con el Presidente y Hermana Brown :)

She survived the MTC!!

Last day with district and CCM branch presidency.

Not the district - some teachers and friends made at CCM.

The "sing off" - a tradition when a group is leaving the CCM.

Elder Diaz off to New York - we love this boy!!! 

This one if for Lennon :) The BEETLES are in the CCM in Mexico City!!!

Leaving on Monday!! - August 14, 2013

HOOOOOOOOOLA!!!!! Ok, first of all, I have some big news... my flight was changed. So I actually leave a day earlier!! My flight is at 6am on Monday and I fly to Dallas instead of Atlanta! I leave to the airport at like 1 or 2 in the morning from the CCM. So I will call you guys in Dallas. I don{t what time... probably around 8... no sé... But it is crazy! I leave in 5 days!! Ahh!!! I can't believe it! I am so excited! I can't wait to get to Colorado!

So, first of all, will you send me that quote from Ky's homecoming? Second, I got your Dear Elders on Thursday :) I think it took about 2 and a half weeks for to get them... But I was so happy when I did! I loved getting mail :) Haha!

So warning... this letter is very sporadic and the order of things doesn{t really make sense or flow.... So, this week I ran into a teacher who}s last name is Sagers and it turns out he is Paul and Catherine{s nephew! Small world! I also met Elder Sherman this week! I don{t know his first name... but he graduated with Lennon and is apparently in our stake! It is so fun having people you know here!

Oh! On LDS.ORG they posted a video about the MTC here! You need to watch it! I am not in it... :( But Ally is!! and so are the other girls going to Fort Collins! So get on and check it out!

I have some terrible, awful, baaaaaaaaaad news!! On thursday I picked out a super cute outfit to wear. I was so excited! The skirt I was going to wear was my super cute green one! (My favorite skirt). It was wrinkley, so I went to iron it. I put the setting on the lowest it could go and it wasn{t getting the wrinkles out. So I turned the heat up a little. The second I touched that iron to my skirt it burned a hole right through it!!!!!!! I seriously almost cried!!!! It is my favorite skirt! So... Mom... I know the chances are slim... but could you see if the store has anymore or could order another one?? In a medium?? Otherwise my skirts are all black, gray and one yellow. I have the lace one too, but I can only wear that with so many things... AHHHH!!! I am soooooooooooo upset!!!! :(

I have been wanting to buy a CTR ring, but one in spanish! The ones they sell here are not that good. And I doubt I will be near a deseret book in Colorado... So, could you buy me one and send it to me in Colorado!? I’d love you forever and ever!!! Look at me - I keep asking for things! Sorry!!

I was told about a really cool experience that a couple Elders had last week that I wanted to tell you! During our TRC last week (TRC is when we share a message with members, either teachers or volunteers from Mexico City). When one of the native teachers was driving into the CCM, she saw this lady standing close to the entrance and she looked really sad. So the teacher went over and talked to her. The lady was not a member. The teacher invited her to come and have the missionaries share a message with her during the TRC. She agreed to come. The Elders that were assigned to talk to her had the worst spanish in their class. They went in and had a really hard time having a conversation with her, but they kept telling her over and over that God loves her. After about 15 minutes the Elders left, and the lady found the teacher and she was crying. She told the teacher that she was going to commit suicide that night and that the Elders gave her hope and had such a strong spirit. She told the teacher she wanted to get baptized! After only 15 minutes of talking to Elders who could barely speak spanish, she wanted to get baptized!!!! Holy cow! Now she has been taking the lessons during this last week and has set a date to be baptized! And she asked if the Elders who talked to her during the TRC could come. They got permission to! Wow!! What a great story! I am so excited to have experiences like this in the mission field!!

I am really excited right now to go and teach real investigators in Colorado! But this week, sounds like Ally already told you, I had my first break down... During class on friday night, I was having a really hard time understanding the lesson! I started panicking cause I was leaving in 10 days and I can barely get by teaching a lesson and I can{t conjugate a verb for anything! So as we walked out of class I started to cry. When we got home I told Hna. Larsen I needed to talk to Hna. Mehner. I went over to her house, but she was in the shower. She came right over when she was done. I just cried and she cried, and we hugged! Her companion was there too, Hna. Cropper. I love Hna. Cropper! I am so glad she is coming to Fort Collins with us!! So they both just hugged me and loved me and told me everything was going to be alright. They told me they cry every other day, so they knew exactly how I was feeling. We talked for about 45 minutes outside my house. We cried, hugged and laughed. It was exactly what I needed! I am SO grateful Ally is here!!! I know Heavenly Father is watching over me because he has sent us to the same mission. After talking to them I felt a 1000 times better!!!

Esté semana, yo jugaba mucho volibal! I am getting pretty decent. So watch out Lennon!! ;) I even have a bruise on my left wrist from playing so much! It really hurts.. haha! Also this week, we thought we were going to get native roommates. But we didn{t I have absolutely loved the roommates we have had, but we are really glad we didn{t get any this week, cause it makes getting ready in the morning a hundred times easier! And now we have our own desks, and Hna. Larsen switched bunkbeds. So now we have our own beds too! It is wonderful! haha!

I wanted to share a quote with you guys I gor in relief society. It is from Marion G. Romney:”I feel certain that if, in our homes, parents will read from the book of mormon prayerfully and regularly, both by themselves and with their children, the spirit of that great book will come to permeate our homes and all who dwell therein. The spirit of reverence will increase mutual respect and consideration for each other will grow. The spirit of contention will depart. Parents will counsel their children in greater love and wisdom. Children will be more responsive and submissive to the counsel fo their parents. Righteousness will increase. Faith, hope, and charity- the pure love of Christ- will about in our homes and lives, bringing in their wake peace, joy, and happiness.”

I loved this quote and know it is true! I want to invite you guys to read the BOM together every day. I know the spirit will be stronger and there won{t be contention in the home.

I got to go to the temple this morning! It was so great! I did the whole session in spanish!! And I actually understood about 70% of it! Yay! Haha! It was such a wonderful experience!!

I am so glad that you guys love the exchange student, Soo! Sounds like she is a sweetheart and that you guys are going to have a great experience with her!!

I met and talked to a kid from Fort Collins this week! I had to lead the music during a devotional on Sunday. So when the president announced my name and said I was going to Fort Collins, he came and found me after! Haha! He told me it is sooooo beautiful! And that much of his town was hispanic! He told me that I will be speaking A LOT of spanish!! So that made me very happy! :) He also told me that it gets SUPER windy and SUPER cold!!! Ahhhh!!! :( 

I love you guys more than anything in the world!!! I think about you and pray for you every day! I can{t believe I have almost been gone for a month and a half! I only have 16 and a half months left!! Cray Cray! People said that time flies by, and they were right!! I can{t wait to talk to you guys on Monday!!!! LOOOOOOOOOOOOVE YOU!!!!!!!!! AND I WILL TALK TO YOU SOON!!

Love,

Herrrrrrrrrrrrrrmana Mangum :)

Hannah and Demarie - they have been friends since elementary school!!

Elder Diaz!!!! and Hermana Mangum - family friend that we ADORE!!!!!!

The awkward handshaking - can't hug anymore :(

The Fort Collins Hermanas - Ally is in the polka dot skirt

Hermanas with some attitude :)

Tragedy of the week....

A super sad selfie - haha!

The famous in front of the map shot!

Mangum and Larsen

Statue on the campus

Typical classroom

The spanish scriptures say YOLO - haha!

El templo de la Ciudad de Mexico

Las Hermanas

The sister AND Moroni :)

http://youtu.be/XAWfJPPDsJA - THIS IS THE VIDEO HANNAH WAS TALKING ABOUT - ALLY IS SITTING IN A CLASSROOM DURING SOME OF THE FILMING!!!