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!

Ravioli ravioli - Dean Funes

Give me the formuoli, man oh man it has been a long week, but a good one for sure. We spent more time outside our area than in it this past week for all the traveling for conferences, and we have another conference tomorrow with Elder Whitney Clayton, which should be great.

Also just so you all know, my P days from now on are on Monday, so Ill email every Monday now! 

The multizone conference was really good, but pretty sad too, because it was our last conference with our current mission president, Presidente Correa from Chile. We'll be changing this next transfer, next week. 

Not much more to talk about, but we talked a lot about attitude in the conference, and its important to know that attitude can change everything! it affects your effort, actions, and therefore, the outcome. Have a good attitude and accomplish your dreams!

Have a great week!

Elder Jenkins

BYE PRESIDENT CORREA <3

Argentine money collection

My favorite parts are the little animals on
the back of some of the bills.

Today we went to the longest dam
in South America, pretty cool.

Pastry filled with Dulce de Leche,
cost me the equivalent of less than 50 cents,
and the pic is of it half eaten.

Alien Days - Dean Funes

This week we went to Capilla del Monte for a good zone conference. Transfers were last week so we got to get to know the new elders, including two new elders, both from Argentina. 

Its finally cold enough that I need to walk in a jacket all the time, makes me really happy because I haven't had winter since like a year ago, because I had two summers back to back. 

Spiritual Thought: I got to give the Sunday School lesson this Sunday about Ven, Sígueme, (Come, Follow Me) and I gave it about the young rich man, and it was cool because I was able to use a lot of what I learned about that parable in the book Jesus the Christ that I'm reading. My favorite part of that story is the question the man asks, "What lack I yet?" I think a lot of us see ourselves as obedient to the commandments, like "yeah I don't kill or commit adultery, I honor my mom and dad, I go to church" and we leave it at that, without asking what more we can do. We should analyze our lives, and ask God "What lack I yet?" or "What more can I do?" or "What can I improve?" When we show God that we want to be better to serve Him and His children, He will give us those opportunities, but we need to be sure that we are ready to obey with the opportunity and answer given to us. The young rich man was sad and unsure after hearing that he needed to sell his belongings. We need to be ready to act on the answer we receive to "What lack I yet?" President Henry B. Eyring  said, 

"Ponder deeply and diligently in the scriptures and in the words of living prophets. Persist in prayer for the Holy Ghost to reveal to you the nature of God the Father and His Beloved Son. Plead that the Spirit will show you what the Lord wants you to do. Plan to do it. Promise Him to obey. Act with determination until you have done what He asked. And then pray to give thanks for the opportunity to serve and to know what you might do next."

The attitude that President Eyring shows in this talk is how we will truly receive the blessings from asking "What lack I yet." 

You guys are great, have a good week, kachow


Elder Jenkins

Easter Egg - Dean Funes

Well what a week it's been am I right?

I have a super great video with my companion, but it's taking a while to load, I'll send the link if it finishes. Paciencia

As I'm sure at least most of you know, it was Easter Sunday, which is awesome. Here in Argentina they take Thursday to Sunday off of work and school for Semana Santa (Holy Week) but mainly just to sleep. We as missionaries had a great time though. It felt like naturally all of our lessons became more and more focused on the sacrifice of Christ and His resurrection. It was a really edifying week for me, I've felt more gratitude than ever for Christ and everything He's done for us. 

This week we also had a multi-zone conference, it was awesome as always, especially because we were able to have 4 generations of trainers together. Elder Gingles, Elder Farfal, me, and Elder Miliotto. So awesome. This is Elder Gingles' last transfer, but Elder Farfal still has a year left, so we're going to see if we can get 5 generations, if my son trains, and his son trains before Farfal goes home.

We have some great stuff happening in Dean Funes, I'm absolutely loving it here with Elder Miliotto, we're working real hard, and we're really starting to see miracles from our efforts. God will help you if you ask. His arms of mercy are extended.

Love you all, hope you have a sick deans week, seeya later!

Elder Jenkins

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.)

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