transfers and goodbyes and sunrises - General La Madrid

Crazy and long but good week!

We had multizone conference this week, which was great cuz I got to see some of my old companions, plus it was the first conference of the new mission president, so that was fun. However, it was sad too, because this was the last conference of one of my old comps, Elder Bingham, who was with me in Catamarca. He's the first of my comps to finish the mission. He's on his way home as I'm writing this email. Good guy, if any of you are going to BYU, you'll have to say hi from Elder Jenkins:)

This week was also transfers, and my comp Elder Oyarzabal got assigned to a new area, Santa Ana, so a lot of this week was spent saying goodbye. We visited a few families, and ate some great dinners. 

Earlier today we left to the terminal to meet up with all the missionaries, where I dropped off Elder Oyarzabal, and picked up my new companion from Chile, Elder Ortega. He's from the same group as Oyarzabal and my hijo Elder Miliotto, so I've already gotten to know him a bit from before, he's a cool guy, I think we'll get along great.

Hope you all have a great week, find ways to help those around you! Every morning, ask God who needs your help, and pray for the ability to find that person and follow through with the prompting!

Elder Jenkins

Finally in the Argentina CORDOBA Mission - General La Madrid

Wow a lot happened this week, but the most exciting would be leaving Dean Funes to go to my new area! I spent the week working, and after a long long wait, we found out that I would be leaving to go to the area General La Madrid, which is sitting in Cordoba Capital! super super cool, and Im super excited. Im writing this email on my first day but I already love it here. I love cities in general, and there's so much to do, lots of people to teach! it'll be awesome. BUT it was sad leaving Dean Funes. I thought I was super ready to leave, but then saying goodbye to some of the families was real hard. its all good though, my son Elder Miliotto will take good care of them. My new companion is Elder Oyarzabal, from Uruguay, and he has the same amount of time in the mission as Elder Miliotto, and he seems way cool. All in all, Im super stoked for this transfer, with a change of pace from Dean Funes.

Last week we had a conference of the whole mission to listen to Elder Whitney Clayton of the Seventy, so I got to see all my old friends, I took pics with each of my companions up until now, which could be the last time I see them all in one place, because Elder Bingham finishes the mission soon. 

I don't have much else to say, but I have a lot of pictures, and I'm sure I'll have a lot to say about my new area next week! love you guys, peace out!

In a world we must defend - Dean Funes

BOMB WEEK wowza.

Started off Wednesday by traveling to Córdoba capital for a missionary conference, and it was really great. I saw all my roommates from the MTC! Real fun. Talking about missionary work all together and listening to President and the Assistants give talks was really awesome and got me hyped to work as hard as I can. 

I had mate for breakfast in my new cow hoof mate, pretty dank, I think.

Yesterday we came to Cosquín for exchanges with the zone leaders, and it's so pretty, I'll send pictures. I was with Elder Caballero, and he's great. I love exchanges because you can learn from how other people teach. He teaches in a way that's very simple and easy to understand, and fun so it's not boring, and it reflects how much he cares about the people. I always have something to learn and that's what makes the mission so great. Learning is progress, and progress in the way of the Lord. A post-it note in our apartment says it best: "Always be happy, never be content." Don't get down on yourselves when you aren't perfect, because nobody is, everyone has something to improve. Look for those things in your life, and work hard to become the best person you can be. 

Leggo my Eggo,

Elder Jenkins

To claim my rightful place - Catamarca

THIS WEEK WAS AWESOME!!!

First off, we had another zone conference in Córdoba, which means another 2 nights in a row sleeping on a bus for 5.5 hours! It was really fun though. I loved escaping the heat of Catamarca for a little while! The conference was great, President Correa got us all really hyped to have a great year working hard. Also, since Elder Farfal is working in the office, I got to see him again! It was weird to be with him, but with a new companion as well! 

Also in Córdoba, after the conference, we got to go to the temple! It was my first time actually being able to attend since the other times I´ve been in Córdoba it was either closed or we didn't have enough time. Let me just tell you guys, if you are able to go to a temple near you, just do it. Temples are the absolute greatest, I felt the Spirit so strongly, it was exactly what I needed to start the year off right. All you peeps, especially those in Utah, TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOUR OPPORTUNITY TO GO TO THE TEMPLE!!!

I picked up some nice Christmas cards in Córdoba too, I especially loved the notes from the Primary kids of my ward! Thanks you guys!

The absolute highlight of the week was the baptism of Carolina! It was such a wonderful experience. I can really see the effect that the Gospel has had on her life. She is the first person to be baptized that I started teaching. It's been so cool to watch her progress each lesson from when we started teaching. I know that the Lord has been able to confirm her testimony that this is His true church on the earth. I know that as well. The Church that Jesus established when He was on the Earth really is restored and we can all benefit from it's message!!!

You are all wonderful, God loves each and every one of you. 

"The phone, the phone is ringing"

Elder Jenkins

(PS If you're looking for a nice tune this week, and you enjoyed starting the year with Me and Michael, check out I'm A Believer by Hot Dad. One of the best covers of all time.)

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

To train them is my cause - Catamarca

Wowza this week was awesome! Honestly probably my favorite of the mission so far! (I'm gonna send pictures of everything through a Google drive folder with comments on each picture, let me know if it works well, or if I should send them a different way)

So first off, this week our Zona Catamarca returned to Córdoba for Zone Conference. Since everyone's gonna be busy during December, this conference was Christmas themed, which got me hyped. We saw a whole bunch of missionaries from other zones, heard some awesome messages from the assistants and the president and his wife, ate some dank food, and performed skits that we prepared (I got a video of the best part.) We hit the town for a little bit afterwards because none of us had really explored Córdoba much, cuz we live 6 hours away.

Definite highlight of this week was a baptism! It was really cool, his family was really excited, I was nervous about messing up in Spanish, and the water wouldn't fill all the way (and Lil guy is super tiny) so I baptized him on my knees. It was de diez. We had some cake afterwards to celebrate. I felt so happy the whole time for him.

Since we were in the Christmas vibe after conference, and we are starting a new transfer, we decided to switch around the whole pension and decorate for Navidad. The pension definitely feels a lot more alive, and now we can study where we have an air machine so we don't have to be roasted alive while we're trying to feel the Spirit. 

Last week we went to a farm, pics included.

We were being driven around by a member, and after we taught a family with him, he was driving us home, and we were going past the home of one of the families we're teaching and we decided to visit them and walk the 35-40 minutes home instead of get driven home, but it was awesome. I love visiting that family because they are all so humble, and have so much faith. I spent a lot of the time talking about my pictures, and teaching a short lesson with Elder Farfal. I felt the Spirit super strong the whole time, and afterwards, Elder Farfal told me that she was really surprised about how fast my Spanish has progressed. Made me feel real good, and I know it's the gift of tongues and the Spirit that have helped me grow in the language, and I'm really grateful. 

Speaking of grateful, Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming up, so make sure you think of things and people you're grateful for, and express your gratitude to Heavenly Father. We all have so many blessings, and Heavenly Father loves when we show gratitude for those things. Also, a great way to show gratitude is to serve others. I gave a talk in church this week about serving like Christ, and "abounding in good works." Look for ways to serve these next few weeks.

It's dangerous to go alone, take this,

Elder Jenkins

FINALLY IN CÓRDOBA (kinda) - {Catamarca}

Whats up everyone! Sorry I couldn't write last week, our P day was right when I was traveling, so I never got the chance, and Ill probably forget a whole bunch from the past two weeks, but its good to finally write! My P days are on Tuesday now, just so everyone knows.

Conference was dope, I hope you all got the chance to watch it. It was such a good sendoff for the weekend right before I left for the field. It was a little bit tough saying goodbye to the people, but I was ready to leave. 

Here is a brief summary of my sleep schedule the days leading up to and including my travel:

The hermanas in our district had our roommates change our clocks, so when Elder Kotter and I got up to go on our daily run at 5:30, it was actually 3:30, so we got pranked hard, and when we got back to the casa and realized we had been pranked, we were demolished and couldn't sleep. A couple days later we woke up at 4:30 to leave for the airport, then headed to Buenos Aires! everything went well, I didnt sleep on the plane, we landed, had some food, then at 3:30 when we finally could go to sleep, we found out we were leaving the hotel to go to Cordoba at 5:30. so We got as much sleep as possible, then left for the airport again, landed in Córdoba, and met everyone!

This mission seems so so so cool, Ive met a ton of cool people here. I'm loving it, and Elder Kotter and I both thought it felt like home when we finally got to Córdoba because its been such a process getting here. I got assigned to my first area and my first companion! My comp is Elder Farfal, from Chile, and he speaks no English except for a few phrases, so I'm gonna need to learn Spanish really fast! We are serving in Catamarca, which is an area really far from the city of Córdoba, but its really cool. I finally got a somewhat decent amount of sleep on the 6 hour bus ride to Catamarca at midnight to 6:30. 

This week has been a lot of orientation and getting to know everyone, I have so much to learn here but it's been really cool, and my Spanish is progressing pretty fast. I still have no clue what anyone says, but I can talk with Elder Farfal pretty well. I honestly love it here so much. It's sick. I'll send more specifics in following weeks but for now just know that I love this Gospel, I know it's true, and I love Catamarca and all of you guys! Talk to you again soon!

ATL

Elder Jenkins