I have a Heaping, Whopping, Plump, Grande Ole Testimony!!! - November 4, 2014

Familia! Whats up whats up whats up!?

Sorry I was not on yesterday. We had our Mission Conference, so my pday was switched to today.

WHAT A WEEK!!!

To start off my email I will tell you about an amazing miracle that we had this week! We had a dinner appointment with Hermana Trinidad. About an hour or two before, she called us up and told us that she had invited a friend from her Zumba class to come and eat with us. So, we got to the Trinidad’s house and her friend was running late, almost 30 minutes late and we are starting to get nervous and were wondering if she was even going to show up. But, she got there, carrying 3 ginormous bags of manzanas! She gave them to us and we then enjoyed a great dinner! She is amazing! SO cute and SOOOOO funny! After dinner we asked if it would be alright if we shared a message. We read in John 14:26 about el espiritu santo. You guys, it was awesome! She told us that when she woke up that morning she had a feeling that she was going to learn something. She knew that we were an answer to that. Hermana Cardona and I both had the prompting not to ask for her number or set up an appointment, just let things happen on their own. At the end of our dinner appointment she asked if we could do this again... only next time it could be at her house! Whooo hook  Our appointment is for tomorrow! She said she wants her husband to be involved too... but isn't sure how to bring it up. She said maybe I will say "I gave those bags of apples to a friend of mine. Remember when Adam and Eve ate an apple. Some missionaries are going to come over next week." bahahahaha

We had a few amazing experiences with L this week. We visited him almost every single day because tomorrow is his trial. During one of our visits we watched The Lamb of God.... it made him cry! L started to cry! The spirit was very strong. He wants to change SO bad and it really got to him being able to see what Christ went through for him. Seeing that Christ died for him! We also taught him the Law of Chastity. I aint gonna lie... it was a wee bit awkward teaching a 15 year old boy to live the law of chastity. I am just praying that everything goes well tomorrow and they just put him in house arrest.

OUR MISSION CONFERENCE!!!!! Oh my goodness was it amazing! To start it off they told us to write down two questions and promised us that we would receive the answers. My first question was about how I can help our investigators understand the need to be baptized by someone holding priesthood authority. W just seem to be struggling with that. We invite them to be baptized, but they either say that they have already been baptized or that they have already found Christ and been saved. My other question was how I can strengthen my faith. Both of these questions were directly answered! Say what!?

Those who spoke talked about 3 different types of missionaries. Ones that are fearful (ME) Bold (What I want to be) and the ones that are overbearing. What we need to have, to change from a fearful missionary to a Bold one is FAITH! As you all well know, I have 0 confidence in myself. none, nada, zip. I have always wanted to gain confidence in myself, but, it is something that I really struggle with. Yesterday I had the thought that I don't necessarily need to be confident in myself... but rather be confident and have faith in Christ. Be confident that Heavenly Father will bless me and strengthen me; that I will be able to help our investigators and address their concerns, that I will receive the gift of tongues etc. etc. They also talked about GRACE, or the ENABLING POWER of God. Elder Perkins(from the Quorum of the 70 who came and addressed us) read the scripture that says "It is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do" and told us that sometimes we misread this scripture. This is not chronological... Grace is with us always. I could go on and on and on and on and on and on and on about the conference but I need to have time to read all of your emails. Just know that is was LIFE CHANGING!

Lastly, we had an unbelievable experience with M and N last night. So... Hermana Cardona and I had stopped by about 2 times during the week and they were not home. We felt that something was wrong and tried calling them, but no one answered. We saw that their lights were on on sunday so we pulled over to check on them. M told us that they had been in a car accident. A 17 year told girl had hit them on the 40. She hit M's side and completely totaled the car. N (who has mental disabilities) got so scared that she started to cry and went into a seizure. The policemen told them they are lucky to be alive. We were in complete shock and had the prompting to ask if the elders could come over and give them a priesthood blessing. They agreed so the Elders went over with us last night and all I can say is WOW! I have grown to understand and appreciate the priesthood so much on my mission. I am so grateful for Elder Young and Elder Johnson, and that they are worthy and ready to serve those around them. N has had a lot of pain in her neck from the accident. After the elders gave her a blessing, she turned to them and said "Thank you. I feel better now." and she repeated that the rest of the night "I feel better now."

Sorry... I feel like this email is all over the place. Just know that I have a heaping, whopping, plump, grande ole testimony!!!

LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hermana Mangum :)

SORRY - I WILL SEND PICTURES NEXT WEEK :)