Be the Best Me - November 17, 2014

Hi guys :)

This week has been great! We have been crazy busy!! Lowest amount of lessons I have had since last January... haha, but not because we didn't work hard... just because we had lots going on! 

On Tuesday we had exchanges with Hermanas Cropper and Ferrell :) It was SO great!! Hna. Cropper came to Boulder with me and we had a blast! I love that girl! So fun :) We were able to see lots of people that she taught when she served her and it was great! 

And then the snow came... and it came hard! The roads haven't been that great... Ally is the designated driver, but she doesn't feel comfortable driving in the snow, especially in an old, little corolla.. So she called the Senior Elder who is over the cars and now I am the driver :) I am happy about it! I love to drive and I know how in the snow :) So it all worked out well! 

We had a Leadership Meeting in Fort Collins on Thursday with Elder Baxter from the 70 :) He came with Elder Cook a few months ago and now back to our mission again. There were about 20ish plus missionaries at this meeting. It was SO wonderful!! WOW!! Elder Baxter is like my new favorite General Authority! (is it ok to have favorites??) haha! We went around the room and talked about traits of a leader. It was really inspiring! He told us many wonderful experiences he has had. He is also just so hilarious and real! I love that about him! He is from Scotland and his wife is from England and they just lay on the American jokes. It is really funny! He acts himself, but he has mastered the whole "best self" thing. That is what I have been trying to do on my mission. BE ME, but be the BEST ME. And he is a wonderful example of that!!

At the end of the meeting, I was asked to give the closing prayer, but Elder Baxter asked President Brown if we could change, and that he could say the prayer instead. I was on board :) OH MY GOODNESS!! I do not even know how to describe the way I felt as he prayed, other than my heart could have literally leaped out of my chest for joy and for feeling the spirit so insanely strong!! There was not a dry eye in the room. This is literally the most sacred experience I have had on my mission. I will simply never forget it. The blessings he left us were so personal, so sincere, so heartfelt, and he just kept piling them on. It was simply amazing!!!

Then on Saturday we had our Mission Tour with him. It was in Longmont. It, too, was fabulous!!! Sister Baxter spoke and she is just a doll!! I love her! She spoke about how our missions are preparing us for marriage and all other things we will face in life. We are learning how to have a successful temple marriages. It was really wonderful to hear! Especially since I have only a month left... it was nice to really reflect on how my mission will literally impact me for eternidad!

Then Elder Baxter got up and talked about how much he loves us and how much the Lord loves and adores us. He talked a lot about the Atonement and how Christ suffered in the flesh, meaning he suffered as a human not a God. He literally took upon him 100 billion people's sins, pains, temptations, sufferings, death, etc as a human!!!! How He and our Father in Heaven count the number of tears on our pillows and how they weep with us. It was powerful!! 

Then he had us put our first names in front of certain scriptures, like... 

"Hannah, I, the Lord, am merciful and gracious unto those who fear me, and delight to honor those who serve me in righteousness and in truth unto the end. Great shall be your reward and eternal shall be your glory" (D&C 76:5-6).

or...

"Hannah, all that is unfair about life can be made right through the Atonement of Jesus Christ" (PMG pg. 52).

It was so powerful and wonderful!!!

There was a Q and A after and one of the questions was how do we stay strong in such a wicked and crazy world. The answer... THE TEMPLE!!!!! The temple is the only way for us to stay strong! It is where everything is centered on Christ, where everything is good, and holy. I can't wait until I have the privilege to go to the temple regularly! I know it is the holy house of the Lord!! Elder Baxter said that for every temple that is built, Satan looses power. The temples not only bless the members lives, but even the non-members that live near it. I thought that was really cool!!! 

Well family, I love you so much!!!! I appreciate all you do :) Have the best week!!! 

Love,

Hermana Mangum

My Heart is Brim with Joy - November 10, 2014

Hola a Todos :)

Well it was another wonderful week!! Started off by doing exchanges with some of the Sisters in Longmont. I went with Sister Martinez, who I lived with while I was in the Branch in Greeley. It all went really well! She goes home in just 2 weeks. We had a good time together :) 

Also this week I got my Trunky Papers!! For those who don't know what these are... basically I have to write this long essay about my entire mission! Everyone I have taught, things I learned, how I will apply those things when I go home, goals I have for the future, etc. Most people write about 20 plus pages! So Ally and I have been trying to work on the papers this week! They take forever! But getting them just made it really hit - that I am almost done... :( It is crazy! It has been a real treat to be able to think about my entire mission and how amazing it has been, though!

So something funny that happened this week was that we were at a members home, the McDonald's, and they were telling us about this inside joke of theirs about a Baby Satan... It was hilarious! And they have this saying... "Not today Baby Satan!" They cut out these pictures and put them all over their house, like fridge, microwave, closets, etc. about the whole joke. Well, Sister Cropper, who used to serve here, left a bunch of these creepy porcelain baby heads here in Boulder. So during weekly planning, I colored one and made it this creepy Baby Satan and we wrapped it up and gave it to the McDonalds! (we used walmart bags as tissue/wrapping paper.. haha! #ghetto) It was hilarious!! They loved it and said it was the best present that they have ever received! haha!

Then on Saturday we had a great day full of lessons! We went and visited a less active part-member family and they fed us pasole... we had another dinner right after... a member took us out and we got sushi :) yum!! Then we had a lesson with R and J and their family and she made us Papusas! They were DELICIOUS!!! like oh my goodness!!  But I was SO full!!! 3 dinners back to back! :( Last week we had double dinners, this week triple. Oh man!! 

We had a wonderful lesson with M this week about the Word of Wisdom! She committed to live it :) and she also told us that she was fasting while we were there! We had taught her about fasting last week and she wanted to do it! We apparently didn't do a good enough job explaining it because she did kind of a Lent-type fast. She gave up breakfast for a week. :) But I don't care how she fasts! She is trying and that is all that counts! She was so happy about it too!! it was awesome :)

We had a wonderful lesson with B this week! We watched Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration. Oh man! I loooooooooooooooooooooooove this movie!!! I cry every time! My testimony of Joseph Smith is just strengthened every time I watch it! I know he was a prophet and that he restored the church on the earth!! 

This week our sunday school class had just 1 couple that attended. We taught... correction, Ally taught :) haha! Well actually the couple just took over! The lesson was supposed to be about eternal families but they just told us ALL of their problems... it was like confession and a psych visit all at once. It was crazy! They were telling us the problems they are having with their 14 year old son... The Hermano was saying that the Hermana used to be more patient but not anymore... it just went on and on... that she would look better in that dress if she was skinnier... oh man! They weren't angry at all... just vented and had no filters and just unloaded! It was intense and we were just in shock and worn out after! haha! But with that said, I love this familia! They are amazing! They have gone through a lot and are just trying to get their feet back on the ground and return to activity! :)

This morning while I was studying I had the best experience! I read this talk that Ally found called, The Opportunity of a Lifetime. It was all about missions and what we should be learning from them and how they prepare us for the rest of our lives. Really fabulous! Then I read in Alma 26 :) This is one of my favorite chapters in the Book of Mormon!! I love how Ammon is just so full of joy!! He is so excited as he talks! I love how he explains about how even though many of the Nephites perished in war against the Lamanites, they were able to bring many Lamanites unto God. (Bury up their weapons, Anti-Nephi-Lehi's) And how happy Ammon was that he got to help be a part of that conversion! And then Aaron calls him out and says he sounds prideful, basically, and immediately Ammon replies...

I do not boast of my own strength nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God. Yea, I know that I am nothing as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever... Therefore let us glory, yea, we will glory in the Lord; yea we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea we will praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel." (Alma 26: 11-12, 16)

Oh!!! I LOVE THAT!!!!!! I was able to reflect on my mission and how grateful I am that I have been able to play apart in the conversion of others and bringing them closer to Christ. I know that it is not me, but it is Heavenly Father who has made that possible!! I boast of him!! My joy is full from this opportunity I have had! And I too can not even say the smallest part which I feel. It is hard to explain! But it is wonderful! I am grateful for Heavenly Father! I know He is helping me and has throughout my entire mission! I know through Him we are made strong and can do anything! I know sharing the gospel brings us an insane amount of joy and I feel honored that I am able to experience that!!!

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love,

Hna. Mangum Sr :)

I Make a Mean Tres Leches - November 3, 2014

Hey Fam Fam :) 

Well we had a great week! Lots of things happened! Many miracles :)

So on Monday we went over and had a lesson with M and her son. It was her birthday and she wanted to make us dinner! We already had dinner right before… nothing like doubling up! But it was fun and totally worth it! We had a great lesson with them! We read 2 Nephi 31 :) And then we committed them to being baptized on December 6th!!! :) Yay! It was great! Then after we enjoyed a homemade Tres Leches made by none other than yours truly :) They LOVED it and said it totally tasted like it was straight from Mexico! We went back later that week and M told me her daughter came over the next day and brought her a chocolate cake but no one touched it... they proceeded to get my tres leches out of the fridge and eat it. No one has eaten the chocolate cake yet! hahaha! :)

On Tuesday we had interviews with President Brown. They went well :) But the best was that right before the interviews, Hermana Smith (aka, Makaal) and her mom came!!! So I got to see them and it was fabulous!! I love them! Mama Jen is awesome!! And Luis came! He told us he just got his mission call to San Fernando CA Spanish speaking!! I am SO happy for him!!! Hermana Smith and I had so many good times with Luis and it is so great to see him now getting ready to leave on a mission! He leaves Dec. 3rd :) 

Also on Tuesday we had exchanges with the Broomfield sisters :) I was so fun to get to go back to Broomfield! Even though it was a different ward than I served in :) The exchange went really well! Sister Nolin and I had a lot of fun! We tracted for 2 hours! We tracted into a member... #embarassing. And then we also talked with a Jehovah's Witness for about 30 minutes! It was awesome! She was super nice! We were able to teach her a little bit about the Plan of Salvation on her door step. She wasn't interested in learning more. But she had a lot of respect for us and she gave us some of her magazines and we gave her some of our pamphlets and it was great :)

We had a lesson with R and J. It started off well... but then J went on about all of these beliefs he has and how no one sincerely tries to see things from his point of view but we expect him to see things from ours... #nottrue Then he told us he thought we were 27 years old ... 27!!! Are you kidding me!! I was so offended - haha! That is almost 30!! haha! Not cool J! I guess I will forgive him :) R is progressing and doing really well and is really interested in what we have to say. She said the closing prayer, which was huge! And she wants to make us papusas :) Yum!

Halloween was good :) We couldn't really do  much... we had a couple lessons, did our weekly planning and cleaned our car and waxed and waterproofed our boots! haha! So it was a productive day! :) We were in by 6 :)

Also this week our zone had a challenge that whoever in the zone had the most baptismal dates and less-actives at church (combined) would win a free lunch provided by their district leader... and guess who won?? We did!! With a total of 3 dates and 3 less actives :) So Elder Arnado gave us some money and we are going to go out to lunch today :) He wasn't too happy about it… haha

Also, great news that Hna. Stratford told me that I haven't told you all: FORT COLLINS GOT THE SPANISH BRANCH!!!!! It literally started the week after I left... so that was kinda hard for me... but I am just so happy it happened and that I got to play such a big part in getting it started! Now we have 2 branches in our entire mission... ha! So happy to hear such miracles are happening in the place and with the people i love so much!! 

AND... P has a date to be baptized too!! Nov. 22 :) I hope I can go back and see her baptism! And I also heard that since the spanish branch started, M has come to his senses and is ready to be baptized! Sounds like he is serious! I hope I can go and see his too!! 

I love these experiences I am having! I have grown to love everyone so much!! And I love everyone here in Boulder! I love hearing about the miracles happening with those I love in Fort Collins! I am so happy! And it is truly a happiness we can experience through missionary work, by inviting people to come unto Christ! I love it! These last 6 weeks are going to be amazing! I just know it! Many more miracles are on there way!! Ally and I are going to do our best to try and get a branch started here in Boulder! We have a lot of work to do but I know we can help get it started in the right direction!

Well, I love you all so much!!! Talk to you next week :)

Love,

Hannah :)