Hola! Como estan?

This week was a pretty good week. I feel like they are getting more and more productive with each passing one and that means that I will be super effective by the time I leave... Only to realize that I only know barely the basics and Spanish is way different in Nicaragua. We taught at TRC (church members come in and volunteer to take a lesson from miissionaries in training). My comp, Elder Baldwin, and I taught a man from Chile, where Taylor Heyman is at RIGHT NOW! And he "swallowed" all of his s's. It was weird. I was translating his words into the Spanish I know and then that into English. Haha. Good luck Taylor, I know you'll get it! Not too bad, but just different from how we learn it here.

We have a new district of 12 elders that came in last week and another district of 8 just arrived today. Our branch that was once small is now growing into a bunch of elders and the 4 sisters in my district. Kinda fun. We as a district have been trying to speak solely Spanish this week on Monday, Wed, and Friday mornings until lunch time. It works decently. We don't talk nearly as much as normal and some of us forget a good deal of the time. Slightly distracting, but we still push on and try to improve. I'll be released as District Leader this Sunday and another elder will have that opportunity to conduct the meetings and get the mail. Looking forward to see who it is (I have a little say in the decision I think in my weekly letter to the Branch president that I'll be sending after this ha).

Just returned from the temple where we did sealings for families that have passed beyond the grave. It was really neat again. This is our second time doing it. It seems amazing that we have this ability to join families together forever even after they have passed, but I always think of my family when we go and how I will be with them always. I love you all, and I am very elated that we are sealed for time and all eternity. =)

I sent some photos, sorry if they're not the best. I am not exactly a photographer, and neither are the missionaries we ask to take pictures haha. I have a few more, but I didn't want to spend all my email time just sending pictures, I hope all of them made it! The group of people I'm with is my district, the 5 elders and 4 hermanas. Now you have the opportunity to see who I spend almost 16 hours a day with! They're all great. We mix very well together still and just had the slump of being almost half way through in our productivity, but all is well. We had a church service and a devotional about the topics we needed help with (importance of setting goals and keeping the spirit with us by not making innappropriate [mainly sarcastic] jokes).

Lessons in Spanish are going so well!! Seriously, they're amazing. I love speaking Spanish. It's so surreal. I know that words don't translate directly over to Spanish and that even a word doesn't fully define an action or idea in the world, so learning the concepts and words are a little easier for me than for those who think it should be translated word for word. They'll figure it out eventually and I'll be humbled once I get to Nicaragua haha

We had an AMAZING devotional on Sunday! The speaker was the managing director of the church's missionary department or something. He gave an amazing talk! It was very inspiritational and very influencial. I am so glad we had good seats that had air conditioning. He also had people stand up if they had done this, come from here, going here, had this much family, etc at the beginning of the talk, so it would have been difficult to fall asleep. Yup, I stayed awake fully in that one and took quite a few notes. I actually just reminded myself to look over those tonight. In addition to his awesome talk, we were able to watch a talk from Elder Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve that he gave last year on Christmas, which was a Sunday. He spoke about the "Character of Christ". It was the most amazing talk I have ever heard. He focused on the Savior and the amazing characteristics he has. The overall tune was that Christ ALWAYS turned outwards whenever us, or the natural man, would turn inwards. AFTER He suffered for all of our sins in the Garden of Gethsemane, AFTER His closest friends could not wait up with him to be there for him, AFTER one of His disciples betrayed Him, AFTER He was surrounded by armed guards and a disciple, Peter I believe, cut an ear off of one of the guards, He stopped and healed the guard that was taking him to be crucified. Jesus Christ is the most pure and best example we could ever have on this earth. In the Missionary handbook that we teach and study out of called "Preach My Gospel" there are attributes of Christ in one of the chapters. As a district, we have decided to work on "Charity and Love" for each other. Simple things. Taking someone's tray after lunch to the wash room, picking up a "pocket puke" (where an elder leans forward and the contents of his pocket spill out), or even sharing the dulces that our families send us. It really makes such a change. It makes me feel the Spirit and feel like I am accomplishing the will of the Lord, where I am furthering His love to His children in the smallest of manners. It's such a wonderful feeling.

Well, I am almost half way. Once Saturday (which is the 1st, right?) hits, I'll be starting a one month countdown.

Love to you all, know that our Heavenly Father loves you and wants you to be happy,

Elder Mann

PS Thank you so much for all the mail, it brightens up my day so much. Even just a simple postcard makes a difference in a day =D

The day before Elder Heyman left for Chile.

MTC 3RD WEEK

Hello Hello!!!

Thank you for the packages, to start off on a high note. They make my day! I especially loved the Easter in August one. There will be a few pictures on the memory card for that one.

So, we have devotionals every Sunday and Tuesday night. This last Wed (yesterday) one of the members of the quorum of the twelve came and spoke to us. Neil L. Anderson gave us an amazingly spiritual talk that was centralized around what the Prophet Thomas S Monson "would have said" had he been there, which our teacher pointed out that what Thomas S Monson would have said is what Heavenly Father would have said, so that made a huge difference on my perspective of the devotional. He spoke with such a strong spirit. He touched on 9 points that Pres Monson would have said:
1- Follow the Prophet

2- Do your duty, that is best, leave unto the Lord the rest"

3- Trust in the Lord, you will be an instrument in His hands"

4- Let the Lord shape your back

5-Smile, Enjoy yourself

6- Love the people you serve

7- Never ignore a prompting

8- Testify of the Prophet Joseph Smith

9- Become converted to the Savior Jesus Christ

He shared a little bit about each point, telling stories of President Monson and how he related to them. Stories from how Pres M saved a girl from the provo river when he was 12, when he ignored a prompting (which was a really sad story, but I don't want to give you a downer), and then a story or two on missionaries acting on promptings and testifying of Joseph Smith. It was amazing. My favorite part of the talk was the ending (not for the initial fun reason you would think "Ohhhh its overrrr"... I was actually sad it was ending), but Elder Anderson was testifying of the truthfulness of the Gospel and Jesus Christ and the Church and the Prophet. When he spoke of Christ he said, "I am a witness." It struck me so deeply because he is literaly representing the lineage of priesthood authority of the original twelve apostles that Christ himself called. Even then, after he had ended. All of us missionaries stood for him to depart. I was sitting fairly close. He stood, picked up his bag and lifted his hand to wave goodbye and he said, "We love you" in the most sincere and truthful voice I have ever heard. I believe him. The love of the apostles was shown through him, as was the Presidency's, and even moreso, Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father. They really do love us and they know each of us individually.

So yes, this week has been amazing. We had a different service duty (every friday morning we help clean the MTC somehow). We worked in the kitchen where we rotated stock in the freezers, unloaded trucks and moved goods and produce around (no cooking lol). The supervisor man apparently liked us and how we worked because he put in a request for us to return again this week to provide more service. I really enjoyed it because it was a great amount of fun and physical exercise. I went through the temple today and found out something interesting. I don't fit into the same pair of pants that I have been getting for the past month or two... had to bump it up a size... Ahem... Apparently sitting all day everyday with less than an hour of exercise for 5 of the 7 days a week isn't a good mix even if I am primarily eating salads and non-fried foods. Ohhhhh dang.

Also, we have 2 teachers, Harker and Henderson. Both left this last weekend (1 to introduce his fiancee to his mom and the other for a quick vacation to six flags before BYU starts again), so we had subs. We teach our teachers as they role play an investigator of the church they had on their missions, which is a really great experience. All in el Espanol. Anyway, my companion has really shot up in his Spanish. Normally our lessons were split where I spoke 70% and he 30%, but it all of the sudden reversed one lesson with the sub where he spoke 60%. It was amazing! He carried the conversations as I searched for scriptures and it was honestly one of our best lessons. We have also learned a word in spanish used in Nicaragua that mean "cool" or "sweet". I like it because it sounds like "twenties" which makes me think of swing dancing. It's (and this is probably not spelled 100% correctly) "Twanes". Haha Elder Baldwin, my comp, still has his moments in Spanish though. He said "We have a beautiful Father in heaven" instead of "loving Father in heaven" because he said "hermoso" instead of "amoroso" hahaha He also mixed up teach/learn quite often in lessons, so he tells the investigators "you are going to teach about the Gospel" and they get a really confused look on their face. It's a good challenge for me to help the investigator understand throughout the lesson, but as I said, he is making major progress.

In our residency, we mess around with the elders in the room next to us. When we arrived, my companion found a spoon in his bed. it's the "travelling spoon" that we hide in each others' rooms/items just for the sake of doing it. Its really funny actually. I had a spoon in my suit jacket pocket for both devotionals on Sunday and Monday. Really interesting to pull that out during the opening song and say "Rios!" ("danget" in spanish, literally means lightning or thunder though). Yeah, we are all getting along well together. The district I am in is really fun, there are no lacks for laughter to put it one way. We still talk about "babylon" (the world outside the mission/mtc) often and dating comes up.

 

Mom, Dad:

Can you send me like two more pairs of ankle socks please? I'm going sockless on Pdays because I'm one short ha (I have church socks, but that's weird in running shoes =P)

Oh, also can you ask Grandma if we are related to the "Auelua-Filitaula" family? They mainly live in Cali, with some time in Alaska too. I've met an elder here that is part Samoan and that's his last name. Super nice elder.

Speaking of super nice elders... TAYLOR IS GONEEEEEEE!!! Gaaaaaaahhhhh..... It was good to see him one last time. My comp and I stopped off at his residency (he's in another building) and said a final goodbye. No tears shed this time, we know we are going to be doing the right things and doing them well. Love that brother. He hasn't changed much for his 9 weeks in the MTC (still goofy and small).

Thanks for the sweets packages as well. My teeth might be rotten by the time I leave. I do enjoy tortilla chips too... just sayin... =P

Thank you so much for all of your love! My district loves you. They say I have the nicest family and I smile each time they do because I know it's true. You are so amazing and I love you dearly. I am sorry if it takes me a while to write you back, but I honestly don't have much time to write (only Pdays). I could write for the full 16 hours, but alas we have other obligations throughout the day still...

I know this church is true, otherwise this business plan of trying to convert the world by sending 19 yr old boys and 21 yr old women who have only had a measely 9 weeks of language training into the world would not be nearly as effective as it is. I have felt the Holy Ghost testify to me so strongly that what I am doing here is right, that I am supposed to be here, and that those I love and care for back home will be taken care of. I cannot express the joy I have felt in this knowledge as it is often what gets me through a day when I am feeling a bit homesick. I know that Jesus Christ lives and desires us to do well. I believe that Joseph Smith restored the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our day to bless our lives and those who lived before and those who will live after. Time here is fleeting and we are counseled to not wish/pray that these short two years will pass by quicker than they already will. While I struggle with that, I know that I will only have this once in a life time opportunity now and I cannot relive it. I pray for you daily and hope you will also turn to the Lord when you are in need, or just to give thanks. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

WEEK 2 FROM THE MTC

Hello everyone! Thank you for tuning in to the MacGyver Mann email half hour. Hopefully you will learn something new this week, I did.

First off! Thanks to all who sent Elder Smith a birthday package! He was so excited when he got the two packages and multiple cards/letters. It really meant a lot to him! He had a good birthday here at the MTC. Our district got him a little goodie bag as well filled with stuff from the bookstore and the "up for grabs" box on every residency floor. (ie grow your own venus fly trap)

The Spanish has really been amazing. I've been getting more and more practice in. We are up and operating for 16ish hours a day and a good hunk of that time is in the class room learning spanish or studying it during personal time as well. I was actually wondering if I should bump up to Intermediate Spanish. I would have stayed here at the MTC for 9 weeks still, but started at where week 6 of the Beginner course would be at. My teacher, Hermano Harker, took me and a sister from our district as well down to the first "test" where we basically have a conversation with a lady in spanish to test our comprehension, accent, vocabulary, and conjugation skill. I did well in that, and so on Monday both the sister and I were pulled out of class and offered a position in the Intermediate district. There were 4 elders and 4 sisters, so we would have been put in a trio, had to change districts, residencies (rooms/maybe buildings), and schedules entirely. After praying about it for all of Sunday and a good portion of Monday (and Saturday), I realized my answer was to stay in the beginner class because I really do have a wonderful district that gets along so well and we all have a positive attitude on the work we are doing. Our branch president (over all of the districts) also said he likes having 1 or 2 people who know a little bit more spanish in the beginner class so they can help out. I really think that may be a calling for me. It's a great experience to help my companion and other members of the district in the spanish. Especially when they say "No to see, to feel. I se that we you all he will read the book of Mormon." hahaha

TAYLOR IS LEAVING SOOON!!! GAAAAaaahhhhh........ Lame. It's been really fun seeing him around the MTC. We don't spend a whole bunch of time together, but it is always an occasion to smile when we do. I have recently enjoyed drinking his chocolate milk durnig lunch when he is not near his food or just poking him with my tray when I'm on my way to put it in the dirty dish tray thing. Lots of fun. Ohhhh well..... Gonna miss ya, bud.... I mean "elder".

Something I miss super bad is dancing. Seriously. When my companion is in the bano (which is almost regularly after every meal) I get to stand outside and I end up doing solo charleston or parts of the tranky doo I remember, or the dance Corrinne and I did for our "farewell" dance thing. Props to you if you understood that ha Gaahhh I wish we could dance here. and I wish I could find an elder who knew how to dance because whenever I say "I was into swing dancing back home" lots of elders are like "Oh yeah me too! that was so fun!!" I then test them by asking, "What does Bada bapada bada bapada mean to you?" They don't respond or don't know. Yank n crankers... Haha just joking, they're great.

Anyway, Cousin Selina is superrrrr awesome!!! Thank you so much for all the cards/letters and care package! You must come from a super special mom too because Aunt Lorrie is super amazing! My district loves the two of you and get excited when they have mail from anyone in my family. We have a big package from Mom and Dad and Mac and Kerason and Corrinne on my desk we will open tonight when we are all together.

Oh I forgot to mention that both of my room mates snored. Yup. The one below me on the bunk snores 10 minutes after laying down and goes for about 20 minutes before rolling over. and the elder on the other bunk snores 20 minutes before we have to wake up.... One night I smacked the elder below me with my pillow because I wanted to fall asleep. It was actually really funny. I bought ear plugs a few days ago and THEY WORK MIRACLES.... hah But I won't have to wear them for a while... unfortunately one of the elders in our room is going home because his uncle suffered a heart attack and is no longer with us. He is going home for the funeral and intends on coming back in 2 weeks.

I passed the sacrament on Sunday, that was pretty neat. We have a devotional every Sunday and Tuesday night and so we sing hymns before each one as "prelude music". Hearing 2500 missionaries sing "We are the armies of Helaman; we have been taught in our youth" is such an empowering experience. If you haven't read that part of the Book of Mormon recently, about the 2000 stripling warriors, look it up and read it soon! We are seriously an army of God and we hold his power in bringing people closer to Christ.

Mom, I know you wanted to know about the small and strange things of the MTC, so here's one part that I was wrong on. I don't have to wear my suit every where. We have to wear suits Sunday, Tuesday and to the Temple on Wednesday. I just went to the temple today and did sealings and proxied as a son. It was a really neat experience. I hadn't done that before. Next week Elder Baldwin and I are going to try to do Baptisms (get in some water, YA!)

Strange things in the MTC.... Trading goodies from care packages is quite common. However, I was offered half an avocado by an elder right next door and that was the strangest offer I had ever received. Half an avocado. I don't even have tortilla chips (which I love *wink*)

Trading ties is also quite common and kinda cool. I've seen a number of elders with 1 or 2 of the same ties as me, so I'm going to try and trade those out. I already obtained another cool red tie.

Also, we aren't allowed to play music at the MTC. Music isn't allowed here except for the meetings, so no CD's or MP3 players are to be out to keep the place more reverant because they know everyone would be blasting MOTAB or something. Sad since I can't play my dad's music, but I will be able to in 7 weeks!

One of my two teachers, Hermano Harker, is also about to propose to his girlfriend in the next 7 weeks at some point. He is an RM that served spanish speaking in Canada. He's an amazing fellow and a great teacher. he really knows how to invite the Spirit into a lesson and honestly teach us what is important. You can tell when he had a good date with his lady because he is super giddy the next day haha

Also, we are at Max Capacity here at the MTC. The week that I came in was also the week with the largest influx of sister missionaries as well. We currently have the most sister missionaries the MTC has ever had. And my amazing girly friend Corrinne and her besty friend Marissa are going to be adding to those ranks soon enough! Can't wait to see you both.

I know this is all super scattered, I'm just trying to be typing for the 30 minutes straight; please forgive the typos.

I don't know if I said it last week, but the days and weeks honestly hold no concept of normal time. Days seem long at times, but weeks are short.

Mom, Dad, Mac, Kristen:

I love all of you so much. You have no idea what an emphasis the gospel has placed on family. It seriously swells my heart up just thinking of all of you. I am so blessed to have been raised by and with my amazing family. I speak to elders and sisters who have come from more difficult backgrounds and I know that my family has been blessed with the amazing attributes that they have in order to bless the lives of everyone they meet. I love you all.

Thank you for the mail/email/letters. Put your return address so I can write back! Even in emails!

-Elder Mann

1ST LETTER FROM THE MTC WEEK 1

Hello everyone!!

Thank you to all of you who wrote me a dear elder or a letter/package! I love getting mail, it's the best part of the day.

The first day was amazing. Saying goodbye to my parents was quite difficult, but I honestly felt so good once I saw Taylor. The moment I saw him I felt like I was in the right place and my best friend was there to prove it. Haha It was a joyous hug, yes, us men hug. The first day we are literally dumped into working and a busy schedule. (Probably to get our minds off of home). My district, the people you take class with and pretty much spend the whole nine weeks with, met together in our classroom with our teacher, Hermano Harker. We introduced ourselves to our companions (I'll mention more about mine later) then dove into Spanish. Hermano Harker didn't speak a word of English the entire first day. He spoke slowly for us and used the board to point to words written down and asked what they meant. I surprised myself by literally understanding a good 80% of what he said. I haven't had Spanish in 4/5? years and I remembered so much. The Gift of Tongues (being able to speak another language / understand another language / remember lessons from long ago) is REAL!!!!

The schedule is pretty much minute for minute. 30 minutes in the morning to get up and get ready for personal study. Then breakfast, class, study, etc etc etc. All printed out on a nice little schedule for us. I really enjoy it and now that we have been here a week and have a regular schedule (the first few days are a little different) it is pretty simple to follow.

The second day, I believe, a district leader was assigned for our brand new district after our Branch President (The "Bishop" of all of our little districts) interviewed us all. He asked me to be the district leader. Woohoo!! What that entails is that I get the mail every day at lunch and dinner for everyone and distribute it at 9:30, so we don't open it until night time to not distract us. Aaaaand I make sure the district gets along, cleans up and is on task. I will also interview all of the "senior companions" of the elders. We have 5 elders and 4 sisters in our district. 5 is an odd number, so there is me and my companion, Elder Baldwin. Then three other elders grouped into a trio. So I'll just interview my companion and one other elder to report back to the Branch president if necessary. I also get to attend "leadership training" seminars with all the district leaders in our branch Sundays and Tuesdays which help us figure out how to be a better leader.

Our district is amazing too. The three elders in the trio, Brown, Smith, and Seastrand have great personalitites. While they do complain quite a bit (normal for the first week I suppose), they want to do well. Then I'm so thankful for the sisters in our district, Rife, Kelly, Rowe, and Mills. The sisters bring a fresh breath of maturity here and there especially around all of us 19 year old guys... Ha. My companion, Elder Baldwin, is a really good elder. He is physically only 5'6".... and 170 pounds of muscle. Haha A miniature hulk. He bought a shirt from the book store that looks like a superman shirt except it has "CTR" in the chest emblem; the shirt was a small and he didn't know it. So we took a few pictures of him with it on before we returned it for a bigger size haha Seriously, though he has a good heart and knows how to have fun- which is something I seem to have forgotten to have more than once here, so I am glad we are companions.

The Spirit here is so different than any other place I have been. It's pretty much only 3 options on how you can feel it: It's there, but a few things are keeping it outside the door; I feel like I am in the right place; THIS IS THE TRUE GOSPEL NO MATTER WHAT!! Haha. The last option has happened only about three times so far. One of the coolest things that has happened is when i read the scriptures, I see so much more than I have ever before. Different meanings and connections to my own life just come into my mind. For example, in the the Book of Mormon in 3rd Nephi, Christ asks the people of America to touch the scars on his hands and side. I drew a strong connection from the Spirit to Christ because of the scar on my neck and what happens to me every time someone asks to touch it or reminds me about it: I relive the experience and remember the feelings and sights I had when I got the scar. In no way was it near as horrific as Christ's, but I realized what he is still willing to sacrifice to remind us of what He has done and what He is still willing to do for us.

We only have 30 minutes on the computer once a week, but I get mail every day.

Thank you so much Aunt Lorrie for sending me dear elders every day and for the candy and tie! (I got compliments on the tie)

Bamma, Selina, Mom, Dad all of you are amazing and I love getting letters/cards from you too!

Homesickness doesn't have an opportunity to hit during the day unless I drift off, day dream, or force myself to think about it (which happens more often than you think). Hearing any news from home is always a welcome blessing and I definitely feel so blessed. Some members of my district haven't received anything from their immediate families in the mail yet and no email either. We all share the same mail box (#344), so you can drop a card of support in for them as well:
Elder Brown, Elder Baldwin, Elder Smith, Elder Seastrand, Hermana Kelly, Hermana Rife, Hermana Mills, Hermana Rowe.

Each of them have their own unique personality that I can't summarize in total now, but you'll definitely learn a bit here and there about my companion, Elder Baldwin, through the stories we will have.

HOWEVER, it is Elder Smith's birthday this Friday, so please send him a birthday card because I don't know if his family will or not.

The sisters even get an extra half hour to work out in the morning while the elders don't. (one of the sisters in my district gained 4 pounds in 3 days from the food here... Ha, ooops. She's on a salad diet now like me).

Elder Heyman (so weird to call him that) definitely brightens up my day whenever we pass each other in the lunch room or during workshops or in the halls. I love that elder and I wish we saw each other more. Ha.

What else?

Send me some questions of what you want to know or what you're interested in and I'll ry to answer it next week. Regular mail and dear elder (which is super easy) is the best because I get it the same day and can spend more time emailing back instead of reading it- but still send emails.

Mom, Dad and Mac: I love you three sooooo much. I miss home extremely, but I feel I am doing a good work and learning some things about life I could not learn any where else. I keep you in my prayers and I am excited for our reunion in now LESS THAN TWO YEARS!!!! Yeah... one week less... still...

We're about to get lunch then head to the Provo temple to do a session. I am really excited to go!

Well, 15 seconds left.

Love you all and please write and know I pray for you back hom.e.

dearelder.com

You can also write Elder Mann an email and he would get it the same day. Log onto to dearelder.com. On the right side of the page there is a drop down box, select Provo MTC. Then click write a letter below. On the left it will ask for your first and last name, address and so forth. Then on the right side this is where MacGyver's info goes. So it will be. Elder MacGyver Mann, MTC box # is 344, mission code is NIC-MANS 1001, estimated mtc departure date is 10/5/12. If you write on this dearelder.com before noon, he will get it the same day.  What happens is the MTC prints out a copy of this, and puts it in his physical mailbox.  He cannot write you back personally.  Missionaries are very excited to get mail.   He will appreciate your support greatly.  On dearelder.com there is an opportunity to send a care package from their website.   He loves cookies, cupcakes, any snack food.  All the packages are shared with their fellow missionaries.

You can also write Elder Mann an email and he would get it the same day. Log onto to dearelder.com. On the right side of the page there is a drop down box, select Provo MTC. Then click write a letter below. On the left it will ask for your first and last name, address and so forth. Then on the right side this is where MacGyver's id

MacGyver's mailing address

Here is the information to write or send packages to MacGyver! Please also check out MacGyver's friend Elder Heyman's blog to get an idea what missionary life is like in the MTC. Blog address is eldertaylorheyman.blogspot.com
Mailing address until October 5th 2012.
Elder MacGyver Reed Mann
MTC Mailbox #344
NIC-MANS 1001
2005 N 900 E
PROVO, UTAH 84604-1793