With courage I will face - Catamarca

Hey! and Happy New Year everyone!

Everyone be sure to give 2018 the sendoff it deserves by listening to the best song to come out this year, (and the best song of all time), Me and Michael by MGMT. Also start off 2019 right by listening to Me and Michael by MGMT. And might as well make it a daily habit. Just saying.

This week was pretty good, a lot of anticipation to know about transfers coming up! Elder Farfal is going to go to Cordoba, to be in the Mission Office as the Pensionero! Exciting stuff. I'll be staying in Catamarca for at least one more transfer, and the old Secretary of the mission, Elder Bingham, will be my new companion! I'm really excited, I've gotten to know him a little bit already from the times I've traveled to Cordoba, he seems like a really good guy, and a hard worker. Elder Farfal leaves Tuesday night, and Elder Bingham gets here Wednesday morning. Im stoked.

We've been teaching a girl in a partial-member family, and she's progressed faster than anyone I've taught before. After her first sacrament meeting, she said that she already knew that this was the true church. And she has a baptismal date for this week! So if all goes well you'll get some pics next week!

Love and miss you all, hope you had a great 2018, and that 2019 will be even better! (Which it will be if you listen to Me and Michael. Just saying...)

Flameo, hotman,

Elder Jenkins

Every challenge along the way - Catamarca

Merry Late Christmas everyone! I hope everyone's holidays were spectacular!

Pics for this week include:

Our trip last P day to Pirquitas, an awesome lake, with cool rocks, and a nice dog. 

Emptying the dirty baptismal font by hand because the machine didnt work.

Farfal's small foot in my chacos.

The baptism of Lucia!!! We've been teaching her since I got to the field, and she finally joined the rest of her family in the church! It was really awesome, and she's progressed so much in loving the scriptures and the gospel. Her baptism was really great.

A picture of me with an old man, we visited an old person home, and this guy couldn't talk, so I don't know his name, but we conversed between my less than perfect spanish and his hand signals. It was really nice. We sang to them too.

Christmas Eve with Lucia's family, they're the sweetest.

Christmas morning with the zone! we spent christmas all together, because the rest of the country was busy sleeping.

Real quick I just wanted to add a spiritual thought, because I forget to add them in my emails a lot of the time. During the Christmas season, its a great time to remember our Savior, but we should remember Him all the time! His life was entirely dedicated to every one of us, and His sacrifice for us is the most selfless act in history. After being out here on a mission for this time, I've loved coming closer to the Savior and learning more about His life and love for us. So everyone, remember that Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father love each and every one of you personally, I testify of that.

I love you all, and I'll talk to you next year!

Elder Jenkins

The power that's inside - Catamarca

Hello!

Short week highlights:

We started teaching a really awesome family. Some of the fam are members, others aren't but they're all really awesome and interested.

I got bit by a parrot named Panchita.

A random guy stopped Elder Farfal and I on the street, handed us cien pesos (its not a lot in USD but it's a decent amount for us) and said to go buy ice cream, then walked away before we could say anything.

We went to a lake far away from the city, it was a super pretty hike, and a stray dog followed us the whole trail, it was epic.

There's not much else to report this week, but everything is really great, we got some rain this week so hopefully Christmas won't be too hot. Wish you all the best.

The sun is a deadly laser,

Elder Jenkins

Each to understand - Catamarca

Wow what a week. 

SO first off, I had to go to Cordoba this week to do paperwork so I don't get kicked out of the country, I left Tuesday night. To go to Cordoba, its a 5.5 hour bus ride starting at midnight. So I left tuesday, got there wednesday morning, and when I arrived, they told me that I actually have to do the paperwork on Friday, and the only place to do it is in Cordoba. So I chilled in the mission office that day, then Wednesday night I went on the same midnight bus back to Catamarca.

Elder Farfal had to do his paperwork Thursday, so for my day in Catamarca, my temporary comp was Elder Larsen, a gringo with even less time in the mission than me. So our Spanish game was a bit lacking. The day went really well though, we found some good people we can teach. Then Thursday night, again, midnight bus to Cordoba. 

This time, on Friday, I actually did have my paperwork to do. It was really awesome because I got to see the guys from my district in the CCM, including my old comp and best buddy in the mission Elder Kotter. Que capo. Spent the rest of Friday working in Villa Belgrano, then, yet again, midnight bus back to Catamarca. For those keeping count at home, thats four consecutive nights with 5 and a half hours of sleep riding in a shaky bus. It was awesome though, great story, great to see the people I haven't seen in forever.  

The rest of our week was pretty regular, just regular working, but I MADE CREPES today and we ate them with Dulce de Leche and Bananas and it was delicious. Also, Lucia, a girl we're teaching, is progressing really well.

Christmas time is awesome, I'm definitely being guided by the spirit, and I get help from the Lord when I'm exhausted from the heat and traveling and walking. Everything is awesome.  I miss stuff from home, but no part of me wants to go or be home. its weird. Like its all just excitement for when I can do it after the mission, no part is wanting to leave what I'm doing now. 

Thanks everyone for the prayers and support, I love you and I'll see you soon. LIGHT THE WORLD.

That is an interesting response,

Elder Jenkins

PS Also I wanted to mention that since Elder Farfal needed to go to Cordoba on Thursday, and me on Wednesday and Friday, that meant that we couldn't travel together, so for those 3 days and 4 nights I traveled solo, and I didn't see my Padre. Que triste. that's all.  

Crepes!

Guys from my CCM District

With Elder Kotter

Searching far and wide - Catamarca

Another KILLER week here in Catamarca, I tell you what.

To start off, we didn't pay our electricity bill because we thought the office was paying it, so they shut off our power, but we got it figured out. pic of Elder Farfal included.

This week it actually rained, and it rained hard, it was super awesome, cuz its HOT ALWAYS HERE. we thoroghly enjoyed the moisture. You people in winter are lucky.

One night this week we had to sprint 3 blocks at the end of the day in our missionary clothes to the fruit store to buy bananas before it closed. they were tasty.

Three other highlights from this week (pictures included):

We bought a lomopizza, its like a giant hamburger with better meat and eggs and ham and goodness in the middle, and the top bun is a pizza. We were celebrating Elder Farfal reaching 8 months in his mission.

This week we traveled to Nueva Coneta, and while theres no way to be sure, we were told that we were the first official Church missionaries to ever visit that pueblito. so cool. We had empanadas with a family, and took some awesome pics on their bike. The pueblito was so calm and nice, and everyone looked at us really weird cuz they had never seen people like us before haha, especially me with my blonde hair.

This Sunday was another rough one, we made pancakes at the house of someone we're teaching so they would get up for church, but they never got up, so we talked with her sister, ate, and left for church so we wouldnt be late. Then our other people also couldnt make it, which put us down, similar to last week. We kept having faith though, praying that the Lord would help them, and then yesterday, we ran into one of them! It's really hard to find him, cuz his work schedule is really irregular, and he doesnt have a cell phone. But we talked to him, and got it all figured out and he's gonna be baptized this Saturday! Another small miracle from the Lord.

Love you all see ya soon

What do you think about the stars in the sky?

Elder Jenkins