Jacob 3:1-2 - La Rioja

Quick spiritual thought, I really liked reading in Come, Follow Me this week. The scripture that stood out to me was Jacob 3:1-2

1 But behold, I, Jacob, would speak unto you that are pure in heart. Look unto God with firmness of mind, and ^apray unto him with exceeding faith, and he will ^bconsole you in your ^cafflictions, and he will plead your cause, and send down ^djustice upon those who seek your destruction.

2 O all ye that are pure in heart, lift up your heads and receive the pleasing word of God, and feast upon his ^alove; for ye may, if your ^bminds are ^cfirm, forever.

Notice the invitations that Jacob makes in these verses. I think they are really valuable to us. Look unto God, pray unto him, lift up your heads, feast upon his love. All of those invitations are directing our focus to God, and the blessings are incredible as well. I feel like Jacob is describing to us how to have a personal relationship with God. How to understand the love He feels for us. 

Keep all that in mind this week, love you

Elder Jenkins

sky

we did a service project for the firefighters and they lent us their cool uniforms.
We cleared some junk and grass and moved some cars

pancake breakfast with the boys

MAGALÍ! - La Rioja

Long crazy interesting week.

THE BEST PART WAS A BAPTISM! I meant to tell you all about her before, but I didn't, so here you go! She is a girl who started listening to the Gospel before I got here to La Rioja. She was a referral from a member here. Once I met her, HOLY COW. She is soooooo spiritual and just understands everything so so so well! Seriously, one of the most understanding people I've taught in my whole mission. Throughout our time teaching her, she brought two friends with her to listen to us as well! SO SO COOL!

Anyways, this last weekend was her baptism! She was so ready and it was really cool to be there! Her friend, the one who invited her to the Gospel, was the one to baptize her. really really cool. She's going to be such a great member of the Church.

We had a good time in Cordoba this week as well in Concilio. Always fun to see the other zone leaders I know like Elder Kotter, Naegle, and others. 

Chamical was also fun. The little sacrament meetings there are always really chill and fun to organize, even if it means that Elder Corgiat and I give talks every time:) Whenever I run out of ideas in these kinds of situations, the first thing that comes to mind is always one of the awesome classes that my seminary teacher Sister Nelson gave. This week I shared what I learned from her in Alma 47 about Amalikiah, and how his methods of gaining power are a lot like how Satan tries to overtake us. I invite each of you to read the chapter and find parallels. I want to point out one part that I like though. 

10 And it came to pass that when it was night he sent a secret embassy into the mount Antipas, desiring that the leader of those who were upon the mount, whose name was Lehonti, that he should come down to the foot of the mount, for he desired to speak with him.

11 And it came to pass that when Lehonti received the message he durst not go down to the foot of the mount. And it came to pass that Amalickiah sent again the second time, desiring him to come down. And it came to pass that Lehonti would not; and he sent again the third time.

12 And it came to pass that when Amalickiah found that he could not get Lehonti to come down off from the mount, he went up into the mount, nearly to Lehonti’s camp; and he sent again the fourth time his message unto Lehonti, desiring that he would come down, and that he would bring his guards with him.

13 And it came to pass that when Lehonti had come down with his guards to Amalickiah, that Amalickiah desired him to come down with his army in the night-time, and surround those men in their camps over whom the king had given him command, and that he would deliver them up into Lehonti’s hands, if he would make him (Amalickiah) a second ^aleader over the whole army.

14 And it came to pass that Lehonti came down with his men and surrounded the men of Amalickiah, so that before they awoke at the dawn of day they were surrounded by the armies of Lehonti.

15 And it came to pass that when they saw that they were surrounded, they pled with Amalickiah that he would suffer them to fall in with their brethren, that they might not be destroyed. Now this was the very thing which Amalickiah desired.

16 And it came to pass that he delivered his men, ^acontrary to the commands of the king. Now this was the thing that Amalickiah desired, that he might accomplish his designs in dethroning the king.

17 Now it was the custom among the Lamanites, if their chief leader was killed, to appoint the second leader to be their chief leader.

18 And it came to pass that Amalickiah caused that one of his servants should administer ^apoison by degrees to Lehonti, that he died.

19 Now, when Lehonti was dead, the Lamanites appointed Amalickiah to be their leader and their chief commander.

Kinda long, sorry. But what I like about this is that Lehonti, like us, would never go all the way down to Satan's level. DUH, we don't like to follow Satan. But when he becomes trickier and says "Oh no just come down a little bit, you can bring your guards, it'll be okay, don't worry, you're still in control" is when the trouble starts. Because when we follow him just that little bit, it's the start of us being "poisoned by degrees" until he destroys us. Scary stuff. 

That's why it's so important to "stand in holy places and be not moved," because as long as we are on that mountaintop, close to God, Satan doesn't have any power over us. And Jesus is ready to forgive our mistakes if we do take some steps downward, and He's ready to help us get back up.

have a good week

Elder Jenkins

people aren't home, but chamical is cool - la rioja

It was a week.

I've been taking more videos while on the move, or with any free time. I think I'll share one of those videos instead of writing a long email this week. I took this video on Sunday night after traveling 2 hours to have a second sacrament meeting in a different town. enjoy:)

(mom note: can't actually get to the video yet... stay tuned)

armadillo shell

please tell me Im not the only one who thinks "BUTTICHE COMPLEX" is pretty funny

mountains

cool statue 2

cactus

first week in La RIoja (kinda)

I say kinda because we ended up spending a lot of it in Córdoba.

After P-day in La Rioja, we left at midnight to go to Córoba for Concilio de Líderes. The Area Seventy Elder De Hoyos was there to give insight as well. It was really great, I learned a lot about how to teach more effectively, and the Spirit gave me answers to a lot of questions I had about how to improve as a missionary.

Since we live over 5 hours away, and there was going to be a conference with (almost) the whole mission the next day, President told us to just stay the night in the mission home so we could attend. Before the night time, I took advantage of being close and visited some people from one of my past areas. We slept in the mission home, then went to the conference the next day. It was fun to see lots of familiar faces there!

After another midnight ride back to La Rioja, I could finally get to work! We got blessed with some cool weather in this notoriously hot part of Argentina. But holy cow, BIKES. This is my first area that has bikes, and at first I was stoked. But who would've guessed that a broken pedal, a seat as hard as a rock, and leg muscles that haven't been used in 1.5 years would make bike riding a pretty miserable experience! I'm grateful for it though, it makes the work a lot more effective, even if it makes my poor bum a little sore:)

I've met some great people here, and the La Rioja vibe is really cool. I've always loved being far away from the hustle of Cordoba Capital and the tranquility of La Rioja is really awesome. 

We didn't have much time to work this week, lots of getting organized and meetings, but overall I'm super excited to be here!

As I walked down from the stand after the sacrament on Sunday (I was playing the piano) the counselor in the bishopric told me I'd be giving a talk, so as soon as I sat down in my seat I got called right back up to speak :) Unplanned talks are not too uncommon here in Argentina. I started by presenting myself, and then talked about my favorite topic, The Atonement. Seriously, I'm so so grateful for the Atonement. I don't think any of us can fully understand how special that act of service was, but to think that Jesus Christ, the most powerful being to ever live on this planet, would suffer every kind of pain and affliction to give us the chance to overcome our difficulties is incredible. There's nothing that makes me feel closer to my Savior than studying and thinking about that sacrifice. I really am so grateful for it. I invite you all to do the same, remember Christ and His Atonement, study about it, especially in the Book of Mormon, because so many truths regarding the Atonement were restored in that Book. Always look for ways to appreciate that sacrifice more and to grow closer to Christ and to follow His example! Love you!

Elder Jenkins