Hi Guys:
This week has been absolutely fantastic!! Probably one of my favorites on my mission!
Tuesday: I went on exchanges with Sister Hoer to Greeley. It was so great! And so fun to see the members from the Glenmere Ward and some of our investigators we taught together when I was there! We had a bit of a different experience... We went to see Richard and Sam!! :) I love them! But last week they were watching the gospel channel and something came on called "The Truth about Mormons". So they decided to watch... Oh boy... It obviously sparked a lot of questions. So they asked us to watch it with them and to resolve their concerns. So we sat down and we only got through 15 minutes in 1 hour! We were having to pause like crazy! This preacher was saying he got all of his information out of our books and they actual were quotes... He made accusations that Mormons don't believe Mary was a virgin, or that we only believe in partial Atonement. What does that even mean?? We quickly set that straight and explained that we DO believe Mary was a virgin, and we DO believe in the Atonement completely! We shared verses from the Book of Mormon that backed us up. He also "quoted" a verse in D&C 130:22. It said on his slide... "God is a body of flesh and bones and he lives with his many wives and together they procreate and live with their spiritual offspring." WHAT??? So we immediately opened our scriptures to that verse and had Sam read it. It doesn't say that at all! The only thing that was the same was "The Father has a body of flesh and bones". Yes, this opposition and false accusations were a set back. BUT they worked to our favor so much! Sam and Richard were only strengthened after that! We have opposition in all things! Everyday we are faced with opposition! And this experience was a testimony to me that opposition only makes a stronger!!
Wednesday: It was a good day. Nothing too special. We met with a less active Spanish family. They were so rude! This is the 2nd time we have gone there and they just make fun of our Spanish. It actually really upset and offended me. I am trying my very best. I try to listen and understand everything they say and bear testimony after. For example, this week I read a scripture in Alma, and right after I was going to explain why I liked the scripture, before I even had the opportunity, the dad stopped me and asked if I even understood what I read. It was so rude. Most people are sooo nice and helpful and lift you up and tell you your spanish is great. They do not. They tear you apart. And I DID understand the scripture! Ugh! It was hurtful and made me want to stop trying. And the most frustrating part was they don't speak a lick of English! They don't even try! So here I am trying to speak their language, in an English speaking country with very little exposure to Spanish and they still make fun of us. Ugh. Sorry, had to vent.
Thursday: This was a WONDERFUL day!! We met with our fabulous Roxy! We taught her the Stop Smoking Program! It went SO well!! We had Sister Korf come with us, who we knew used to smoke, but didn't know she quit on the program! Divine Inspiration! We read through the packet, we made her go out to the dumpster and tear up her cigarettes and throw them away. We testified to her about the atonement, that she is not alone. She was crying. It was so powerful! The spirit was SO STRONG! The strongest it has ever been for me in a lesson! We were on cloud 9 after! ANd Roxy was feeling so good!! And ready!! Then we went to Cargill to teach english! I LOVE doing this! I have built relationships with all of the Africans and Hispanics in the class! We joke and have fun together :) We are not really supposed to talk about he Gospel, but if it comes up we can answer questions. It actually comes up a lot because we have to explain why they call us Sister and not by our first names. On tuesday, 2 guys, one from Ethiopia and the other form Sudan were SUPER interested in learning more and asked for our phone numbers! Their names are Glitch and Muhammad. Pray for them please! Pray they call us this week!! Also, the last hour we taught a different class with only 3 guys in it. One from the Congo and 2 from Sudan. (another named Muhammad). The other guy from Sudan started telling us he is Muslim and he thinks Christians are crazy for believing Christ was a Prophet. The other 2 guys are christian and they lost it on him. They got into the huge heated argument! It was crazy! We didn't know what to do! Neither did the teacher... They finally calmed down. Thank goodness! It was kinda funny though.
Then we had dinner with Sister Korby. She is the German lady in our ward that makes enough food to feed a village! We were there for 2 and a half hours and ate no joke like 15 courses! It was crazy! But DELICIOUS!! She also invited over the Mangum's in our ward. They really wanted to meet me. Bro. Mangum brought over this book of genealogy and I was flipping through it and a family picture with Grandpa and Grandma and the first 7 kids of the fam were in it along with autobiographies! SO cool! So we are related.They are very nice!
Friday: Was just an average day. It was good though!
Saturday: This was a day of MIRACLES!! We were supposed to meet with Roxy again in the morning. We got to the church for our appointment and she called us 5 minutes after she was supposed to be there to cancel because she was sick... I don't know if she really was, or if she was worried we would be upset because she messed up... I really don't know. I think she was sick. But I am not sure if she has smoked since thursday or not. It is all ok - we just wanted to give her some love and support! Then Simon, our other investigator texted us and canceled our appointment! We had 6 confirmed appointments scheduled for Saturday and we were so excited because that was the most lessons either of us have ever gotten in 1 day! And now, 2 appointments fell through! We were pretty sad. But Sister Korf was there for Roxy's appointment, so we shared a message with her! Then we decided to phone up an elderly lady in our ward and see if we could go visit her. She said of course! So we went over and did a puzzle with her played a couple rounds of cards and shared a message. It was so fun! Then we had a lunch appointment with Maria Cruz, a less active spanish speaking member. She invited a friend who was a former investigator! It was awesome! She told us she might want to meet with us and be taught again! The lunch was great! I love mexican food! She made shrimp enchiladas :) I miss having spanish food everyday when I was in the Branch! Then we went to visit a less active old couple who are in their 90's. We visit them weekly :) And then we went and saw Grandma Nichols! Haha! I love her! She is 93 with a thick German accent and is as sassy as can be! We told her we were speaking in church on Sunday and that she should come. She never comes to church. Partly because of her age. We had a great visit! And we were able to meet our goal!! 6 lessons! It felt so good! And that day was just a testimony that even when problems arise, push forward, keep trying and we will be blessed for our efforts!
Sunday: We got to church and were up on the stand because we had to give talks. And Simon walked in and Roxy walked in and Grandma Nichols walked in! Ah!!!!! I had the hugest smile on my face! Our talks went well I think :) I told about Ally and me and our story before the mission :) People were crying! I was so nervous to talk, I really hate speaking in public, but it felt really good after! Then we taught Gospel Principles class. That went good too :) We also had a 15 year old girl, Brittany, who is not a member but who has been coming to church with her friends come up to us and ask if we can teach her. We have been trying to for 5 weeks but she hasn't felt ready, but she is now! We have an appointment with her for next friday! I can't wait!
We were at a total of 21 lessons for the week at this point, and our goal for the week was 24. We had a couple confirmed appointments and we were ready to meet our goal! And then, someone of course canceled... But again, it didn't stop us! We got 3 more lessons in and we were able to meet our goal of 24 lessons for the week! All time high for me and Ally!!!! IT FELT SO GOOD!!! And then at the end of the day we were driving home and got a voicemail from Roxy's sister. SHe is in the ward and is feeding us dinner tonight and Roxy is going to come! :) But in her voicemail she started crying and thanking us for helping her sister and that we are having a bigger impact than we know. It almost brought me to tears listening to her. It was so sweet and made me realize that what we are doing is huge! The gospel DOES bring joy and happiness. A joy you can not experience any other way! And through it we are promised eternal life and exaltation! I was overcome with gratitude to be a missionary! There is seriously no better feeling than when we are serving the Lord with all of our might, mind, and strength!
I am glad to hear everyone had a great week! This is the last week of the transfer for us. So don't send any mail this week just to be safe. And I ask that you all pray that Ally and I get to stay together in Fort Morgan next transfer!! We are seeing so many miracles together!! We are so happy!
I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!!!!!
Love,
Hermana Hannah Mangum :)
#1-3 My day in Greeley
#4 Beautiful Colorado clouds
#5-6 Our relatives!!!
#7 Hermana Hoer has a crazy family photo of you guys!!!
#8 Roxy, some grapefruit juice (helps with smoking cravings) and her commitment to not smoke!
#9 A blue door and a dress from Somalia
#10 We bought "Catching Fire" nail stickers in honor of Katniss this week :)
#11 We found John Lennon roaming the street of Fort Morgan
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