Howdy howdy!!
So, this past week was strange. I say it's strange because I was sick and asleep for most of the week. For instance, I didn't have a Tuesday because I was asleep all day. It was tough. I was dizzy, lightheaded, weak, tired, had headaches, and my kidney's hurt. So friday I went to the doctor and they did tests and drew blood. :( They said I had viral symptoms and that I needed rest and lots of fluid. Then Saturday, after they finished the rest of the tests, they called and told me that my liver functions were a little high and that I needed to not take any Tylenol or drink any alcohol. I said I can do that. And they told me I need to go in at the end of this week to see if my liver is doing okay.
Anyway, that was pretty much the week. I didn't do much of anything else.
I did go to Monticello again last Monday with Elder Harrison and Elder Clark. That was fun to go through that again. It's really neat and y'all should check it out sometime. Just wait til I'm not in the area so we don't run into each other and break Church policy. That wouldn't be good.
Anyway, I get to go to the Leadership Conference we have every two months in the mission. You only go if you're invited by the mission president. It used to be that only district and zone leaders, and trainers went to it. Now they want everyone to come to it. So it's really fun.
So, that was this past week and I am so excited for General Conference this weekend!! It is going to be so amazing I just know it! Remember, if there is anything that you have going on in your life that you need help with, or any question that you need answered, pray about it, write down your questions then watch ALL of General Conference.
I love y'all so much and pray you're doing well.
Love,
-Elder Ricky-dude
--
P.S. The Church is true!
P.P.S. FROG - Fully Rely On God
September 26, 2011
September 24, 2011
September 24, 2010 - October 5th is Elder Mangum's Birthday!
Elder Mangum's birthday is October 5th. Send him a birthday card, note, letter, whatever, to:
Elder James R. Mangum
495 Deepwood Farm Drive
Scottsville, VA 24590-4459
Elder James R. Mangum
495 Deepwood Farm Drive
Scottsville, VA 24590-4459
September 19, 2011
September 19, 2011
Hello everyone and guess what?.....
So, I'm not getting transferred. We had transfer calls last night and Elder Harrison and I are staying here. Most of my district is staying the same... except they are shotgunning the zone leaders and their companions (meaning they're all leaving and three new guys are coming in). And in our zone we are also getting two more sets of sister missionaries. So we'll have a total of 10 sister missionaries in our zone. Yeah, so there are three areas in our zone being shotgunned out. It's crazy!!
Anyway, I've been doing good this past week. I've actually been exercising in the morning. Elder Harrison and I jog to the end of our drive way and back. I know what you're thinking, "that's not very far". Well, actually it is. The end of our driveway is a half-mile away. So basically, we've been jogging a mile every morning. So that's a good thing.
We've been teaching people and many of them are coming really close to being set with a baptism date. It's exciting!! I'm so excited for them. The blessings they are going to have in their lives through this gospel are beyond imagination. And then to be sealed for time and eternity as an eternal family is a blessing many people have no idea about. I feel so blessed to know this and to be part of this gospel. This gospel is the only way to have our families together forever. I know that without a doubt now.
I love y'all and hope and pray y'all are doing good
-Elder Ricky-dude
--
P.S. The Church is true!
P.P.S. FROG - Fully Rely On God
So, I'm not getting transferred. We had transfer calls last night and Elder Harrison and I are staying here. Most of my district is staying the same... except they are shotgunning the zone leaders and their companions (meaning they're all leaving and three new guys are coming in). And in our zone we are also getting two more sets of sister missionaries. So we'll have a total of 10 sister missionaries in our zone. Yeah, so there are three areas in our zone being shotgunned out. It's crazy!!
Anyway, I've been doing good this past week. I've actually been exercising in the morning. Elder Harrison and I jog to the end of our drive way and back. I know what you're thinking, "that's not very far". Well, actually it is. The end of our driveway is a half-mile away. So basically, we've been jogging a mile every morning. So that's a good thing.
We've been teaching people and many of them are coming really close to being set with a baptism date. It's exciting!! I'm so excited for them. The blessings they are going to have in their lives through this gospel are beyond imagination. And then to be sealed for time and eternity as an eternal family is a blessing many people have no idea about. I feel so blessed to know this and to be part of this gospel. This gospel is the only way to have our families together forever. I know that without a doubt now.
I love y'all and hope and pray y'all are doing good
-Elder Ricky-dude
--
P.S. The Church is true!
P.P.S. FROG - Fully Rely On God
September 13, 2011
September 13, 2011
So this past week was... Pretty darn fun and stressful all at the same time.
The stressful part was Tuesday. I had a big ol' bout of homesickness to where I actually felt sick. It normally hits missionaries at about a year out but I guess I was doing something to make it not hit til later. Anyway, that's done and over with and I'm doing a lot better now.
Then Thursday we set up a table at UVA campus and handed out copies of the Book of Mormon. It was scary but fun. I really thought Elder Harrison was going to have a panic attack or something cause he did not want to be there but he endured. The Lord blessed him because about five minutes after we got there someone came up to him and was actually really interested in learning more. It helped him a lot. We were there for two hours and we handed out about fifteen copies of the Book of Mormon. It was fun. There were two things that I really remember about it. The first was this one guy who asked "Are you Mormons?" I told him yes. He said he had a question about our theology. He asked (and no, I'm not joking) "How do magnets work?" My first thought was "magnets and theology? Seriously?" I just told him "I have no idea" and he said "you don't know... hmm... okay" and walked away. So that was the strangest theological question I've ever had asked to me. The second thing was this really nerdy looking kid walking by. I asked him how he was doing and he said "I'm doing well" in a very monotone voice. I then asked him how his day was going and he replied "adequate"................. I've never had an adequate day in my life I don't think. Either it was good or bad. Then I got thinking about what would be in an adequate day and I came up with......... I have no idea.
Then, this Saturday, we taught one of the families we're working with. They are doing good. It was such a spiritual lesson and so much happened that it's hard to write it all. I know y'all want to hear about everything but my fingers aren't fast enough to type everything in the hour that I have to email. I'll give you the jist of the lesson though.
We were able to find out why the dad didn't want to pray with us. He didn't feel like he was worthy to ask for anything. The mom, who wasn't raised with a Christian belief, wants to believe in Christ. They are coming closer and closer to being baptized. What I learned at mission conference will truly help us with them.
At mission conference, Elder David Evans of the Seventy, who is now the Executive Director over the Missionary Department, came and trained us for six hours yesterday. He talked about how sometimes we forget to emphasize Heavenly Father's role in everything when we're teaching people. He shared 3 Nephi 11: 32-36. In that section, the name Father is mentioned whenever Christ talks about what he did here on the earth and it's mentioned 11 times. When God repeats something that many times, it's important and we better listen. Everything Christ did was something His Father commanded Him.
He then talked about how people who have a connection with the church, either to an active member or less-active member, and get baptized, are 20 times more likely to get to the temple than people missionaries find on their own. He asked us about that (How likely are people who get baptized who had a previous connection with the church to get to the temple than ones you [the missionaries] find), the person Elder Evans called on said like 4. I was thinking 10. When he said 20, I thought, "well, I was way off."
He also talked about how we can better get referrals from people without making it awkward or ineffective. It was an awesome mission conference.
I'm running out of time but I love y'all and hope you're doing good.
-Elder Ricky-dude
--
P.S. The Church is true!
P.P.S. FROG - Fully Rely On God
The stressful part was Tuesday. I had a big ol' bout of homesickness to where I actually felt sick. It normally hits missionaries at about a year out but I guess I was doing something to make it not hit til later. Anyway, that's done and over with and I'm doing a lot better now.
Then Thursday we set up a table at UVA campus and handed out copies of the Book of Mormon. It was scary but fun. I really thought Elder Harrison was going to have a panic attack or something cause he did not want to be there but he endured. The Lord blessed him because about five minutes after we got there someone came up to him and was actually really interested in learning more. It helped him a lot. We were there for two hours and we handed out about fifteen copies of the Book of Mormon. It was fun. There were two things that I really remember about it. The first was this one guy who asked "Are you Mormons?" I told him yes. He said he had a question about our theology. He asked (and no, I'm not joking) "How do magnets work?" My first thought was "magnets and theology? Seriously?" I just told him "I have no idea" and he said "you don't know... hmm... okay" and walked away. So that was the strangest theological question I've ever had asked to me. The second thing was this really nerdy looking kid walking by. I asked him how he was doing and he said "I'm doing well" in a very monotone voice. I then asked him how his day was going and he replied "adequate"................. I've never had an adequate day in my life I don't think. Either it was good or bad. Then I got thinking about what would be in an adequate day and I came up with......... I have no idea.
Then, this Saturday, we taught one of the families we're working with. They are doing good. It was such a spiritual lesson and so much happened that it's hard to write it all. I know y'all want to hear about everything but my fingers aren't fast enough to type everything in the hour that I have to email. I'll give you the jist of the lesson though.
We were able to find out why the dad didn't want to pray with us. He didn't feel like he was worthy to ask for anything. The mom, who wasn't raised with a Christian belief, wants to believe in Christ. They are coming closer and closer to being baptized. What I learned at mission conference will truly help us with them.
At mission conference, Elder David Evans of the Seventy, who is now the Executive Director over the Missionary Department, came and trained us for six hours yesterday. He talked about how sometimes we forget to emphasize Heavenly Father's role in everything when we're teaching people. He shared 3 Nephi 11: 32-36. In that section, the name Father is mentioned whenever Christ talks about what he did here on the earth and it's mentioned 11 times. When God repeats something that many times, it's important and we better listen. Everything Christ did was something His Father commanded Him.
He then talked about how people who have a connection with the church, either to an active member or less-active member, and get baptized, are 20 times more likely to get to the temple than people missionaries find on their own. He asked us about that (How likely are people who get baptized who had a previous connection with the church to get to the temple than ones you [the missionaries] find), the person Elder Evans called on said like 4. I was thinking 10. When he said 20, I thought, "well, I was way off."
He also talked about how we can better get referrals from people without making it awkward or ineffective. It was an awesome mission conference.
I'm running out of time but I love y'all and hope you're doing good.
-Elder Ricky-dude
--
P.S. The Church is true!
P.P.S. FROG - Fully Rely On God
September 6, 2011
September 6, 2011
Well hello there!!! So this past week was fun.
The highlight of it was us teaching this one family. We were teaching the parents then the 10 and 7 year olds had some questions about the church. The 7 year old asked "How did church get started?” So we taught them the restoration using the Gospel Art Book. At the end of the lesson, we taught the kids how to pray. The 10 year old said the prayer for us and then they had to go to bed cause it was like 8:50 pm. While we were talking to the parents, Elder Harrison heard the 10 and 7 year old kids upstairs taking turns practicing how to pray. It was probably one of the most amazing things I've had happen on my mission. So that was a highlight of the week.
The other was I had to have a tooth pulled.... yeah.... Remember how I bashed my tooth out of place back in December? Yeah, it got infected again so. What had happened the first time it got infected, the dentist tried to do a root canal on it. One of the roots, however, was in the shape of an S so his tools couldn't get around the curves and a file was broken and left in my tooth. So, I had to go see an Endodontist and he told me that he could try and get around it with his tools, but in the end it most likely wouldn't work. So he suggested I get it pulled. I figured if he couldn't fix it then it probably couldn't be fixed. So they got me in to see an oral surgeon right away. I got in, filled out the paperwork, and waited until they came and got me. Then they numbed me up and waited for about fifteen minutes until the numbing stuff was working and the oral surgeon came in and said "let's do this". Less than a minute later my tooth was out. He had to work on it to get it out because of that curved root but it came out. So then I went to have table time with the sisters in my district (where I sit down and talk with them about how they're doing because I can't go on exchanges with them) and the Charlottesville 1st sisters actually went and made lunch for us and brought it to us. I have a really awesome district.
Later that night, we were invited to come to our wards Mutual activity. They were having an MTC thing and Elder Harrison and I were in charge of teaching about companionship study. The problem was we had only 15 minutes for each group and there were three groups. That wasn't nearly enough time to teach effectively about companionship study, but we did it. All the while I had a hole in my mouth. Yeah.... good times......
So, yeah, that's what's happening in the life of Elder Mangum. I'm helping people come closer to Christ and at the same time getting teeth pulled out of my face. It's really one heck of an experience!!!
Oh, and last preparation day, we hiked up Humpback Rocks again. Those are the pictures I'm including.
I hope and pray y'all are doing good and not having as many problems as I am.
I love y'all
-Elder Ricky-dude
--
P.S. The Church is true!
P.P.S. FROG - Fully Rely On God
PICTURES:
The highlight of it was us teaching this one family. We were teaching the parents then the 10 and 7 year olds had some questions about the church. The 7 year old asked "How did church get started?” So we taught them the restoration using the Gospel Art Book. At the end of the lesson, we taught the kids how to pray. The 10 year old said the prayer for us and then they had to go to bed cause it was like 8:50 pm. While we were talking to the parents, Elder Harrison heard the 10 and 7 year old kids upstairs taking turns practicing how to pray. It was probably one of the most amazing things I've had happen on my mission. So that was a highlight of the week.
The other was I had to have a tooth pulled.... yeah.... Remember how I bashed my tooth out of place back in December? Yeah, it got infected again so. What had happened the first time it got infected, the dentist tried to do a root canal on it. One of the roots, however, was in the shape of an S so his tools couldn't get around the curves and a file was broken and left in my tooth. So, I had to go see an Endodontist and he told me that he could try and get around it with his tools, but in the end it most likely wouldn't work. So he suggested I get it pulled. I figured if he couldn't fix it then it probably couldn't be fixed. So they got me in to see an oral surgeon right away. I got in, filled out the paperwork, and waited until they came and got me. Then they numbed me up and waited for about fifteen minutes until the numbing stuff was working and the oral surgeon came in and said "let's do this". Less than a minute later my tooth was out. He had to work on it to get it out because of that curved root but it came out. So then I went to have table time with the sisters in my district (where I sit down and talk with them about how they're doing because I can't go on exchanges with them) and the Charlottesville 1st sisters actually went and made lunch for us and brought it to us. I have a really awesome district.
Later that night, we were invited to come to our wards Mutual activity. They were having an MTC thing and Elder Harrison and I were in charge of teaching about companionship study. The problem was we had only 15 minutes for each group and there were three groups. That wasn't nearly enough time to teach effectively about companionship study, but we did it. All the while I had a hole in my mouth. Yeah.... good times......
So, yeah, that's what's happening in the life of Elder Mangum. I'm helping people come closer to Christ and at the same time getting teeth pulled out of my face. It's really one heck of an experience!!!
Oh, and last preparation day, we hiked up Humpback Rocks again. Those are the pictures I'm including.
I hope and pray y'all are doing good and not having as many problems as I am.
I love y'all
-Elder Ricky-dude
--
P.S. The Church is true!
P.P.S. FROG - Fully Rely On God
PICTURES:
1 - Part of my Zone: (left to right) Elder Harrison, Elder Clark, Sister Ferrin, Sister Kocherhans, Sister Bready, Sister Barney, Sister Butterfield, and Hermana Sinclair
2 - A tree that was struck by lightning
3 - Me in a cave
4 - left to right: Sister Bready, Sister Barney, Sister Kocherhans, and Sister Ferrin
5 - The Doughboy has arrived!!!!!
6 – Humpback Rocks
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