Hermana Hannah Mangum: Craziest Week You Can Imagine

Hey fam!! Ok, I have a feeling this letter might be kinda crazzzzyyyy... I just have so much to say, and not a ton of time... so I will do my best!! First off- thanks for you emails this week! I appreciated everything you said, all of the great pictures- chalk the block looked amazing!!- and the updates on everyone back home. Glad to hear Kollin is starting to do a little better, and SO happy for Jean!!!!!!

Now... about the flood!!! The pics you sent me were crazy!! The road you sent me is actually pretty close to where I live, and I drove by it and saw the actual cars in the picture! It is crazy looking! We literally drove on that road the night before!!!

So, like I said, Broomfield didn't get hit too bad. LOTS of rain, especially yesterday! A few basements got water in them, but hardly any. Most of the disaster has been in Boulder! We have been going up to boulder every day helping people. It has been such an amazing missionary opportunity for us!! Our entire zone (about 22 people) have been going up to homes up in the mountains and helping people there. They got hit pretty bad! We have been ripping out wet carpet... WHICH IS SO HEAVY!!!!! And shoveling 6" high of mud off of driveways and porches. And hauling furniture out of homes. All of the families we have helped have been amazing.

One family we helped, their entire basement was absolutely destroyed!! It has broken my heart!! Water was literally 2 feet high. We ripped out the carpet when the water had gone down to about 4 inches or so. We hauled out furniture too. Their teenage daughters room is destroyed. All of her clothes are ruined. And the dad is a musician and all of his equipment (worth thousands of dollars) ... ruined! And in the mom's office, all of her paper work and photo albums... ruined!! I took all of the photos out and I wanted to cry! All of their memories... SO SAD!!! And they also had 2 ORIGINAL EAMES LOUNGE CHAIRS!! Holy cow!! I wanted to bawl when I saw them covered in water! Those chairs are pieces of art! (here's my design side coming out... haha!) The whole thing was so devestating. The Letham's (the family) were amazing. They were really struggling... but were so strong, and so grateful for our help. We tried to make it fun... their daughter turned on music and we went to work and worked really hard! (I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO SORE!!) I think the mission should pay for all of us to get massages :) hahaha) The Letham's neighbors are actually mormon. The daughters are best friends. So they came and helped too. They bought us dinner and then we took pictures with the family and we sang Army of Helaman to them. It was pretty awesome!

We went back the next day to finish helping and the water had risen a ton! It rained a lot that night and the water went back up to about 18 inches!!!! I just feel so bad for this family and all of the families who's homes and their things have been destroyed!!

We took another picture in front of the huge mud pile we shoveled! But I unfortunately don't have any of these pictures... A sister in my zone does and she is going to email all of the pictures to us. So hopefully next week I will get them to you :)

Another family, not members, bought all 22 of us subway sandwiches and cookies and coke. SO nice!! This is really just such a wonderful and amazing missionary experience!Everyone is so nice and grateful for our help! I am really excited for this next week!!! I am so grateful for this opportunity! I did not think at all that I would get to do anything like this on my mission. We are having more success now, in the last few days, than we have had in the month we have been here. I know we are affecting lives, and planting seeds about the gospel. People are so grateful for our help. I know that I am supposed to be here to help, and I am so grateful I am! This is what I love to do! I know the gospel is true! I have seen the impact it is having on the lives of the people in Boulder.

So, MOST IMPORTANTLY, this week we met with our very first investigator!!!!! YIPPEE!!! (Mom, you still haven't told me if you know sister deckers family... do you??) We met with Kathleen at the Deckers home. We ate lunch together and got to know her, and then we felt impressed to teach the second lesson about the Plan of Salvation instead of the Restoration. Kathleen's husband left her last year as well as her 2 kids who have autism and aspergers.... So we felt like the Plan of Salvation would be a better route to go. Kathleen comes form a very devote Catholic family. But she isn't really active, just started to going back after the divorce. It was great, Sister Jarvis also comes from a divorced family, so we were really able to relate and testify to her about the strength of the gospel. THE SPIRIT WAS SO STRONG!!! Sister Decker was crying, it was soooooo amazing!!!! Kathleen told us when we got there that she was happy to help us and let us practice the lessons on her, implying she has no intention of really being an "investigator", But at the end of the lesson she wanted to meet with us again and she wants her kids to be there! We are SO HAPPY!!! So we are going to meet with all of them on Friday :) YAY!!!

I am having to type sooooo fast!!!! haha -I hope you guys are all doing well! And to answer you question mom, I can print, but it costs money... so i would love it if you sent me hard copies of some of the pics of colorado and of you guys. I was laughing pretty hard about the story to told of the pedicure lady!! hahahaha! I’m glad jill is giving you massages! That is awesome!!

Ok.... I think that is everything... I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!

THE CHURCH IS TRUE :)

Con Amor,

Hannnnnnnnnnnnnah :)

This actually has nothing to do with the floods this week - we helped Sister Allred (who we used to live with) scrape her popcorn ceilings - YOU KNOW I AM A PROFESSIONAL AT THIS - MOHICAN HOUSE GAVE ME A TON OF PRACTICE!!!