1.28.13

Man, winter went fast! Maybe it will come back at some point, but the weather has been consistently around 80 and very comfortable lately. 

Again, not much has changed here. We are essentially full-time home teachers, and I've learned that i enjoy it quite a bit. Not too may people in the Church get the opportunity to do that, have 100% time to dedicate to helping the unit that they live in. Its pretty cool.

I really cant think of anything that happened this week worth writting... In a few weeks is the Vietnamese New Year, Tet. Its a huge celebration in the culture. Big enough that the branch has its party is this weekend so that it doesnt get in the way of the real preparations for the holiday. The party will be great, I'll be sure to take some pics.

Have a great week!

Love

Elder Manhardt

1.22.13

Well, its been another 6 weeks. One more transfer under the belt. As expected, me and Elder Robison will stay companions. There is a lot of exitement in the mission right now. The hoards of missionaries are starting. We are getting a pretty large number in this week. Next transfer is huge (we are receiving over 20 new missionaries and a majority of them are sisters). Then even the next one after that will be very big, not sure exactly how many. Its all pretty crazy.

 

This week was pretty average. We made a lot of visits to members of the branch. We are still working to improve the number of people we can see in a week. It is a lot of fun to work with the members that are all converts to the church (no matter how long its been) I've learned that there is a lot of doctrine that I know that gets taken for granted. Being a member of the Church my whole life is really such a blessing. No matter, it is really fun to help others to draw the connections and learn new things.

 

My time is short today, so thats about all I can say.

Have a great week! (Dont get frozen in the cold!)

 

Love

Elder Phong Manhardt

1.14.13

Wow, it got cold today! Not quite sure what the temp is outside, but it certainly feels cold.

This last week was good. I'll start with the end of the week. We had the tri-mission meeting with Elder Ballard, Bishop Davies on Saturday. It was very inspirational. It also felt a lot different from the other tri-mission meetings. Elder Ballard mostly talked about involving members in our work and that our work is to teach. We need to be teaching all of the time.

This week we were able to teach quite a bit. We had a lot of things come up that limited our availability, but even with that, we were able to see a lot of people. That's pretty much our life right now. We are involved in lots of different activities and service and when we aren't doing that, we are teaching someone. It means that we are really busy and that we are doing what we are supposed to be doing. Therefore, we are having a good time.

Have a great week!

Love

Elder Phong Manhardt

1.7.13

Well the first week of the year is come and gone. Something I have come to know very well over time is the power and importance of momentum. It affects the power at which you can move forward. It sets the trend for how everything else will turn out. Well we had a great week and the trend is set.

We have really refocused on our goal to strengthen the individual members of the branch. We want to help everybody to know how to feast on the scriptures in order to receive revelation. We want to help people become spiritually self-sufficient (besides the whole relying on God part). Also President Morgenegg wants us to be visiting everybody weekly to be able to do that. We made a pretty good stride in reaching that mark this last week. There is still much more to do, but the momentum is going the right direction.

This weekend we have a special opportunity. Elder Ballard of the 12 Apostles will be here along with Elder Callister and Bishop Davies. Meetings like these are always great and will certainly give a big spiritual boost.

Glad to hear that things are going well!

Have a great week!

Love

Elder Phong Manhardt

1.2.13

Wow! It is incredibly hard to believe that it is 2013 already! Time always flies by.

Well the holidays went well. I didnt get to talk much about it on our phone call, but on Christmas Eve, we had a special mission conference. The meeting part of it was quite inspirational. We talked about what we had accomplished in the year and what the Lord expects us to accomplish this year. After the meeting, we were able to watch a movie. We watched Its a Wonderful Life. It had been a really long time since I'd seen it and it was great. It was enjoyable to have some time to just relax a little and enjoy a movie. After that we had a big dinner mixed with a bit of musical talent. All of this extended over pretty much the whole day. Christmas was good as well, but I talked to you guys then so I wont go into any more detail.

I didnt write on Monday because we changed our p-day for the week to allow us to go to the temple. So this morning, we did some studying and then went with President Morgenegg, the branch president, to the temple.  All I can say is that I love going to the temple. There is no better place to go to be close to the Lord and seek His guidance. 

Other than all of that, things are pretty much the same here. Thanks so much for everything!

Happy New Year! and have a great week!

Love
Elder Phong Manhardt

12.17.13

Well this week was another adventure. With plenty of ups and downs. Several days this week it was actually cold. Cold, can you believe it? It was in the 40s for a bit. We even had to wear long-sleeve shirts. Of course, it was cold one day, then around 85 the next. Now its just hot again. 

The branch had its Christmas party this weekend. It was lots of fun and we got to see quite a few people that we hadnt seen in a while. Santa came too! We also did a little play to show the birth of the Savior, with costumes and all. We were wise men. Fitting right?

Well, I'm glad to hear that the beginning of the Holidays seems to be going well and that you have some good plans for enjoying the season together. 

Make it a great week!
Love
Elder Phong Manhardt

12.10.13

Well this week came and went pretty quickly. Its hard to believe that Christmas is only a couple of weeks away! I got a few letters in the mail from Hannah, Ben, Lilly and Nathan. They certainly put a smile on my face. Other than that, not too much exciting happened this week, but we were able to get quite a bit done.

I'm a bit sick right now. Its not been very fun, but it allowed for a miracle yesterday. My voice has been very in and out and I had large part of sacrament meeting to translate. Right before the meeting my voice completely cut out. I prayed a lot asking that I could translate even if it meant that I couldnt talk the rest of the day. As I tried to join in singing the opening song eventually my voice came through and I was able to do the translating. Once we left church, my voice left me again and my health got a little worse. All our appointments fell through which allowed us to return home and I was able to rest it off. It may have been something rather small and unnoticed by many, but to me it was a testament that God is aware of us all and hears and answers our prayers.

Have a great week!

Love

Elder Phong Manhardt