holidays - Cosquin

wow what a great week

absolute highlight is a baptism! He's such a great guy who is OBSESSED with the Book of Mormon, and he's been so excited about learning and decided to be baptized! He's the first member of his family to be baptized, and he is hoping to be an example for the rest of his family! GREAT GUY!

in other news, we passed Christmas with a great family, great food, good times. also loved talking with my family. 

we had a great pday today, we got together as a zone, played card games, went to a cool looking rock called "el zapato" and ate a great asado lunch. good times.

love you guys, don't have much time left, i'll give a good spiritual thought next week, but for now, have a great week, read the book of mormon, it changes lives.

Elder Jenkins

christmas dinner

pokemon cards for christmas let's go

cool cat

shared birthday of mama iturrieta and elder chagas

pday as a zone

the famous rock "el zapato"

mount uritorco

asado

more zone pday

more zone pday

baptism

almost christmas - Cosquin

this was a good week, met lots of new people and had lots of fun prepping for christmas.

We sang at an old folks home, they really enjoyed hearing some christmas hymns to brighten their day. We really enjoyed having a great end of year activity as a branch. 

We had a miraculous number of people in church on sunday, which was really really awesome. We sang Silent Night in a missionary choir, and I felt the Spirit super strong. Good times

my spiritual thought is gonna be short this week, but for reals everyone: REMEMBER CHRIST. He makes everything possible and He loves you. Remember Him and His example. Especially during CHRISTmas.

love

Elder Jenkins

old car

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas

That's right. its FEELING more like Christmas, cuz I tell you what it doesn't look like it when its boiling outside and there is no snow and minimal lights/snow/santas

Last year, the lack of all the traditional Christmas decorations was sort of depressing. I had just a little bit of time in the mission, still thinking a ton about home, and I didn't really feel like it was Christmas time. 

This year, its been different. I've been using the lack of Christmassy "distractions" to help myself focus on the real reason of Christmas, something that is brought up every year, but important to reiterate.

I read Mosiah 16:6-9 this week and thought it was a great Christmas scripture that helps get across the true meaning of Christmas.

6 And now if Christ had not come into the world, speaking of things to come ^aas though they had already come, there could have been no redemption.

7 And if Christ had not risen from the dead, or have broken the bands of death that the grave should have no victory, and that death should have no ^asting, there could have been no resurrection.

8 But there is a ^aresurrection, therefore the grave hath no victory, and the sting of ^bdeath is swallowed up in Christ.

9 He is the ^alight and the life of the world; yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened; yea, and also a life which is endless, that there can be no more death.

Everything good and that we have ever experienced is because Christ has made it possible. Not only has he given us so many opportunities for happiness in this life, but he gives us the opportunity for infinite happiness in the life to come. He came to the world to give us that wonderful opportunity. 

Love you all, go appreciate Jesus and His gift to the world. 

Elder Jenkins

barbed

i hosted an empanada dinner for my malabarista friends because they're
headed out of Cosquín to go spread their smiles around the world.

scripture study with a nice tereré

goin speedy

with the cosquín squad and the convertible

hiked pan de azucar again

projuggler - Cosquin

Great week.

My companion is a great guy, he has a lot of faith and we've had some great experiences. 

quick story time

We were teaching our friend, reading Alma 32 where it talks about faith growing like a seed into a tree. While reading it, he interrupted and said that what we were reading was exactly what he had been feeling since we started teaching him. Really cool. 

Fun story, we're friends with some street jugglers, they taught me some stuff. They let me perform at one of the stoplights even. We taught them some about the church which was good. one of them came to the livestream of the christmas devotional. cool stuff.

love you all, have a good week, Jesus loves you.

Elder Jenkins

on the bridge with  Elder Nascimento

with my juggling pals

my prime performance

Vanessa's Baptism! - Cosquin

A week with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, but we already know which type we're going to focus on, don't we?

So the first high was VANESSA'S BAPTISM (/MARRIAGE/CONFIRMATION). Vanessa has been listening to the missionaries for over a year and a half. Way back then, she was devastated when she found out that she wouldn't be able to be baptized quickly, because she was living with a man and was not married, and was pregnant with their baby girl. Fast forward a year and a half, and all had been arranged for their wedding on the 29th of November 2019, and Elder Vidal and I were the lucky elders to be in the area at the time to prepare everything for her baptismal interview and baptism. It wasn't difficult since she had been studying and converted for a year and a half. We quickly arranged everything, and a few weeks and banana creme pie visits later (thanks for teaching me that skill, dad), she was married to her husband Pablo, and her father in law performed her baptism, and she was confirmed a member of the Church two days ago. I feel so blessed to have been a part of this experience, and I can tell how much she loves the Gospel. GO VANESSA!!!

Some fun info: transfers were this week, so my Chilenito Elder Vidal is headed off to another part of the white field, while I'll be staying here with my new companion Elder Nascimiento from Brasilia, Brazil. The other two elders I was living with, Elders Christensen and Naegle, have also bounced, so I'll now be living with Elder Brown from the USA and Elder Chagas, also from Brazil. I'm excited for this transfer!

Love you all, have a good week!

Elder

PS FUN FACT: Elder Naegle and I have been playing a joke on Elder Christensen for the past few weeks now, where we make up Fun Facts that are just plain not true, and we make him believe them. It's kinda sad that our form of entertainment has dropped this low, but we got him good, and he was flipping out when we finally told him that they were all fake. I'll include a video if I can. 

funny sign at a tool shop that translates to "if you need the little thingy that goes in the thingy, bring and show us the thingy where the little thingy goes"

river pic

thanksgiving asado gracias a Mama Shelli, #1 Mom in the world

THE WEDDING AND BAPTISM OF VANESSA!

Last pic with Elder Vidal

first pic with Elder Nascimiento

juggle - Cosquin

Good hard week, kinda long, but some good spiritual jewels in there. I'll share one. 

We've been teaching a man recently who has a lot of health problems, and spends a lot of time in the hospital, but he's got a good attitude. We visited him this week, which sometimes is hard to do because his hospital schedule is somewhat irregular. After talking with us, he mentioned that he feels lighter and not as worried after talking to us, and he doesn't feel as much pain. Just a nice little experience showing that the Spirit of the Lord helps those who need it and are open to receiving it. Love you all, go to church.

Elder Jenkins

ale-alejandro - Cosquin

What a weeeeeeeeek

There's a lot to tell but I'll just tell two great stories.

First one has to do with how God is aware of our struggles. My companion and I have had a lot of problems recently with finding new people to teach. We started really digging through the old lists of people that have been taught like 3 years ago, but stopped progressing for one reason or another. We were going around looking for one, and once we got there, a man answered the door, said that the guy we were looking for wasn't home, but then said he was actually a member already and invited us in. We had a great visit, but the part that really stuck out to me was that recently a friend from his work passed away. He talked to the man's wife, who commented (for some reason or another) that she wanted him to find her a Book of Mormon, because she had heard that it talks about Christ in the Americas and eternal families. This man (who hasn't been to church in YEEEEEEEARS) said that he would try to get one for her. Fast-forward 3 days, and guess which two tie-and-plaque-wearing showed up at his house with a Book of Mormon ready to give? us. God is aware of our struggles and will help us do the right thing and use others to answer our prayers.

Other story comes to you from Cruz del Eje for a District Conference. I needed to go to this conference to play piano for the choir, and I was STOKED because it meant that I would be able to see all the members from Dean Funes (one of my old areas) that were able to attend. I go, and tons show up, it was so fun to see them all, they seemed good and happy, they said I speak Spanish better, and I look taller and fatter. RIP. ANYWAYS I LOVED seeing Ezekiel and Alejandro, whose baptisms I was able to be a part of way back when. I did the actual ordinance for Alejandro. Good to see them again. 

ANYWAYS, Alejandro is 21 years old, and since it was a district conference, it was the opportunity for the people to show their favor in him receiving the Melchizedek Priesthood. After the conference he was about to receive the Priesthood, and I was casually peeking through the window to watch it happen, when all of the sudden they told me I was needed in the room so I'm like "Oh sweet maybe I'll be able to be a part of the circle, cool" but then they ask "Do you remember how to start it?" Alejandro asked ME to give him the Priesthood! SO SO SO COOL. Honestly one of the coolest and spiritual experiences I've had in my mission, to be able to give the Higher Priesthood to the same person I was able to baptize. It was so great how all the timing worked out for that to happen, I'm super grateful for it.

Luv ya

Elder Jenkins

a pic on a bridge

familia avila

Alejandro and Ezekiel

train - Cosquin

Good week

We had a conference with Elder De Hoyos of the Seventy. He shared a lot of great advice for missionary work. Really great. It's also always a great time to see some familiar faces.

Not much to say this week, I'll let the pics speak for themselves, but I just wanted to say that I LOVE being a missionary. That's not to say that it's always fun or easy, but I do genuinely love and appreciate the moments that I'm able to see my own progress, and most importantly, the progress of the people I meet. I love how the Gospel is able to help people once they allow Christ to come into their lives. HE LIVES!

Love you all, have a great week!

Elder Jenkins

our pull up bar fell down

what happens when you sleep with the window open and the bugs come in

i bought a face cream that makes it look like i work in a coal mine

brushin teeth

pan de azucar

with the main man farfal

before and after shining my shoes that haven't been shined for almost a year... sorry

train tracks

the view