Tolhuin, Zona Rio Grande - Week 16... Three Cities

(As I've been chatting with Alex this morning, I had to tell him that Nikki is sick, and so now he's all worried about her, and that I'm not really telling him the whole story... so I had to tell him to quit worrying and tell me how he's doing!) Okay, I'm doing good! I'm writing the biggie right now. I'm gonna force a smile in here so I feel better...

      

Alright, the biggie. I am once again in Rio Grande, Elder H is taking xrays, and once again, I forgot to copy out of my journal. So let's see how this goes. 

We'll start off with Mormon coffee. I'M A COFFEE ADDICT. Mormon coffee though, so it's okay (well, I'm not so sure that any addiction is okay). While I was doing divisiones (splits) earlier in the week, Elder Clark showed me how to prepare an Argentine drink called Malta (no, not the stuff from Puerto Rico, mucho mas... rico ) It looks and tastes like coffee (not that I know what coffee tastes like, but igual). The members down here call it "El cafe de los Santos" (the coffee of the Saints). It's freakin' good, I make a cup every morning now! (When I pressed for more info, he said it's made from sugar and wheat.) 

The Zone Meeting on Tuesday was horrible, we'll just leave it at that. That night though, WE HAD ASADO CON HERMANO SIELES!!!! It was the first legit asado, the other two were trucho. Oh my gosh, so good, it was great. 

ASADO!

Conferencia con Presidente was also really great, it was down in Ushuaia. The new AP, Elder Soto, is a capo. I think Elder H took a lot of it to heart as well, so he's putting in a lot of effort to be more obedient, which in turn has led us to have a stronger relationship, so that's great. I really have found the inner peace with Tolhuin and Hernandez. If we stay together for another traslado (transfer) in Tolhuin, I could aguantar (hold out). 

After Miercoles (Wednesday), we had a way productive week. We found some nuevos (new investigators), had some great lessons with menos activos (less actives), found some menos activos (we call them "las ovejas perdidas (lost sheep)," there's un monton (a ton) of these guys in Tolhuin), and Jose came to church. WITH SUSANNA. They brought Dailin, and Angela (who they call Chookie because she has a doll face, and that's how they pronounce "Chucky". I die every time!)They liked it, and the girls were way quiet the whole time, so I gave them candy, and said a prayer of thanks. 

If I leave Tolhuin these traslados, I will not baptize, but I will have planted some dang good seeds. By the way, don't know if I should say this, but ya fue (what the heck) I'M AN ILLEGAL!!! I won't expound on that, just know that Trump would hate me if he was Argentine (when I asked for more info, he said...) I'll expound in a couple weeks after traslados . It's nothing to worry about. Unless I get deported. MOM, THAT'S A JOKE!!!! 

One of the benefits from the zone conf was abuela's letters. ABUELA YOU ARE THE MOST (insert word that means awesome, beautiful, talented, etc etc) PERSON IN THE WORLD!!! They made me way trunky, because she was talking a lot about Sunday dinners, which I miss a ton. But it really made me feel the love for my whole family. My direct family is incredible, and my extended family is the bomb too. Mom, if you could, could you make sure that all the cousins hear "Elder Jimenez loves you" at least once this Sunday, 'cause I want them to know that I haven't forgotten them. 

Anyways, more awesome things... I don't know things are just wayyy tranqy right now. We're working, no mas (nothing more). Alfajores are still good. 

Alright, I'm gonna take a moment to bear a quick testimony. I KNOW that Jesus Christ LIVES. He is our Savior, and HE'S COMING SOON. Me, and David, and Austin, were the closers. He's wrapping it up, and he's gonna come soon, so please, please, please, PUT HIM FIRST. He's a real person, and He paid for your sins, so start using the Atonement, because it works! 

Like I said before, Second Coming is way close, so let's all just be faithful and obedient, and we'll be sipping non-alcoholic margaritas on the Celestial beaches in no time. 

Family, I LOVE YOU GUYS. Pray and fast for Nikki. 

Vamos familia! Mom, I LOVE YOU - Elder Jimenez 

Hilarious Chinese translation that we (me and Clark-one of the ZLs) found on this random box. (This was the reply I got when I asked where he worked this week, Rio Grande or Tolhuin...) There's pavement beneath that box Mom, that means I was in Rio haha!

(And to Jose...)

So it sounds like the US is in complete turmoil without me haha! Colin Kappernick... what a failure at life. Anyways, presidential election sounds like the usual garbage, but hey, Kenzie's farewell sounds cool. Crossing my fingers for BYU! Super worried about Nikki, but there's little I can do, so I'll pray and fast. As far as inspirational things go... it's been pretty tranqy. I've fully submitted to just being a servant, and nothing more. Before, I was working really hard because I wanted baptisms, but now I just work hard cause I know it's what I should do. The Savior gave it all for me, I can give 2 years for him. I've been thinking a lot about Zions Camp lately... I legit think the Lord is testing my mettle with Tolhuin, but I think I've passed, so well see what happens in 2 weeks with traslados (transfers). Oh crazy thing about Austin... HIS TRAINER IS TANNER FREAKING RAVSTEN. Herriman Stake. Herriman High class of 2015, the lucky sucker haha! He also wants to go backpacking in Fiji after freshman year. But yeah that's Austin. I love you and miss you Dad. Tomorrow is my cumplemes (birthday in month form), 5 months! 19 to go, vamos. I LOVE YOU - Elder Capo

Tolhuin, Zona Rio Grande - Week 15... Snow!

MOM. I LOVE YOU. 

Alright, now that that's been said, we can get down to the nitty gritty. Sofia's wisdom teeth sounds hilarious, even though she didn't email me, danggit! Can't believe she powered through the Scarlet Letter in a week. Remember how I couldn't read that book? I had to download it to listen to it, because it was too excruciatingly boring to read. Un buen alli a Sofia ;) Hopefully, with all the changes in the ward, by the time I get home there will be a super attractive 20-something-year-old girl that needs an RM to save her from the dark and dreary world haha!!! 

As for the mish, I'm actually in Rio Grande ahora. The new Pres is a little nuts, and he didn't have consejo (leadership meeting) until the 19th, so we came up to Rio for PDay, we have Zone Conf tomorrow, then Conf with President on Wednesday, and Thursday-Friday I'm probs doing divisiones con uno de los lideres de zona (splits with one of the Zone Leaders), so crazy week! A side effect of being in Rio is that I forgot to note what happened this week from my journal, so it might be a bit short today. 

Anyways, like one can see in the pics, we went the to Mirador again, and it was as beautiful as ever. It snowed a full down here this week, so were just loving life (I hope you can read my sarcasm jaja!). It's dope though because Austin is heading out to Estonia this week, so... Oh danggit! I was gonna say that he'll be in the snow too, but he's in the Northern Hemisphere. I'm so alone jaja! 

Anyways, other things of note that happened this week... The song "You're Beautiful" by James Blunt is really popular down here for some reason, so that's hilarious. Every time that I hear it, I think of Anthony doing the Napoleon Dynamite flying hands thing, and it kills me! 

Jose y Susanna didn't come to church because they were in Rio Grande, but Adriana y Anival did come. It's a lucha (fight). I think you guys would be way weirded out if you spent some time with me right now. I can't see much of the changes, but I pretty sure I'm wayyyyyy more patient, and a bit more serious. I like the patience, but the seriousness kind of kills me sometimes. I need to lighten up!!! 

Anyways, what more.... we worked a lot this week, but Tolhuin has gotten so old, so it's hard. And I think that with the new pres and Hernandez's knee problems there's a big chance that I'm putting in another traslado (transfer) in Tolhuin after this. A QUARTER OF THE MISSION (Wow!!! That would take him to the end of October!). Kill me haha! The members are doing good, menos activos are lazy as ever, but 2 are progressing really well. At this point, I've learned how to just accept the Lord's will, put a smile on my face, and grind. So we'll keep going, and leave it to the Lord. I know he lives, and I'm pretty sure I've already earned a jacuzzi in my mansion in heaven for my service in Tolhuin, so we'll keep going! 

VAMOS FAMILIA JIMENEZ!!!! - Elder Jimenez

From Alex's Letter to Jose...
Dope email, like always! The Olympics killed me. Everywhere I went it was sports, sports, sports, and I couldn't watch any of it. A little piece of me died. The worst was when we were in the Panaderia the other night, because we stopped to go to the bathroom, and I finished first, walked out, and one of the TVs had the Brasil/Germany game, 1 to 1, with 6 minutes left, FOR THE GOLD MEDAL!!! In Brasil, after the horrifying loss to the Germans in la mundial in Brasil, the game was charged. It was never so hard to leave the Panaderia, but I was obedient, and left, then cried myself to sleep after I found out the Brasil won on penalty kicks. I'm missing some of the greatest sports moments in history every month! I LOVE THE LORD. Anyways, way pumped to hear about BYU football in the coming weeks!

We went to the Mirador last week with Anival. All the pics are from there.

El Mirador de Lagos Escondidos y Fagona

This is  description that I found online from a travel company...

Go off-road with a 4x4 tour to Mirador de Lagos Escondido y Fagnano, 

one of southern Patagonia's wildest accessible spots. From the renowned viewpoint, you can see the crystal clear lakes, whose mountainous backdrop makes for a breathtaking scene. The road there, famous for being the southernmost mountain pass in the world, can only be traversed by specialty off-road vehicles. 

Tolhuin, Zona Rio Grande - Week 14... Tender Mercies

Okay I don't have a ton of time to write this letter because the ciber was closed for feriada hoy (the internet cafe was closed for a holiday today), so we're using the computer of one of the investigators. Anyways, I'm gonna get right into the week. 

This week was a tender mercy from the Lord, because there were not any bad days. I was thinking a lot of Sofia this week. She's changing sooo much, but sooo much for the better, sooo proud. 

The weather was nuts this week, lots of snow, but a lot of sunshine as well. All four seasons cada dia (each day) isn't rare here jaja! 

This week, I totally pegged an annoying dog with a rock from 30 yards out like Peyton Manning. The dog was running sideways and everything. The throw was almost good enough to be deemed a Tom Brady throw, but well leave it at Peyton Manning just to be safe ;) I thought Dad would like that so I included it jaja! 

Anyways, I'm trying to be quick, so this post might seem a bit all over the place, but we have a new investigator. When we entered his house for the first time, he had 20 empty bottles of cerveza (beer) from the two days anterior, so that was hilarious. 

The last part of the short post was that God loves me. We had ZERO citas fijas (set appointments) one day, so we were contacting, then we got into one house where the dude was watching Olympic basketball. I think Heavenly Father was like "Elder Jimenez needs a little bit of sports to brighten his day" so we got to watch the last 30 seconds of the Brazil vs Argentina game, where Manu Ginobli totally sealed for los Argentinos and it was totally sick! 

Then we left his house, and Jose y Susanna pulled to the side of the road in their car, and told us that we could come over later in the night. So I pulled Elder Hernandez to the side of the road, and we offered a prayer of thanks. 

Then our next cita fell, but we got to go to a different investigator's house and drink chocolatada. After that, we taught a great lesson with Jose y Susanna, and as we were walking a the 2 kilometros back to the pensh, a different investigator pulled over and gave us a ride home. So God loves me. A lot. Also, Jose came to church yesterday.

Lots of different things happened this week, but I don't have time to write them. Por suerte (luckily), this week was a lot better, so that was great. Anyways, that's all. 

MOM. I LOVE YOU. Sisters, I love you less than Mom, but I love Mom a whole ton, so there's still a lot of love for you guys. A LOT. And Dad, you're obviously my hero. 

AGUANTE FAMILIA JIMENEZ!!!! BTW sooo pumped for the package ;) 
- El hijito Elder Joselito 

A pic of the snow in Tolhuin :)

​Alright, so the last PDay, I was chilling and listening to music, and I totally found this, so sooooo pumped for that, this one's for Puerto Rico's gold medals as well as sanity in Tolhuin jaja! 

Well... he totally sent a video, but it is too long to upload here, so you'll just have to let me know if you want to see it and I'll send it to you :) 

It's quite entertaining!!!

Tolhuin, Zona Rio Grande - Week 13... Knocked all the doors...

Alright so I'm gonna send the biggie first today to make sure that I get it in. Last week I was on for wayyyy to long cause there was a ton of stuff I had to do, plus a ton of people to write. So today some people might not be getting a response. So if you're reading this and got a response KNOW THAT YOURE IMPORTANT ;) And if you don't get a personal email from me, know that I REALLY appreciate the love from home and keep writing me!

Alright, as for the stuff going on a home, the K and N thing in the apartment is sooooo freakin' gringo jaja! Sounds like things are going really well back home right now, so that's way good. 

As for Tolhuin... could be better but we're alive right? I've got my little list of stuff from my journal, so I'll just start talking about the stuff. 

First off, I made some wicked good alfredo sauce from scratch this week, so be proud of me Mom :) I also took all the pics around town, so I sent some of em your way. 

We've got a couple of investigators right now, but theyre all medio vago (kind of lazy) and it's killing me. KILLING ME. I want to baptize in Tolhuin, but if I leave this town without one YA FUE. I've worked my butt off, I'm gonna keep workin' my butt off, and we'll see what she writes. But yeah Tolhuin is suuuuper hard ahora because I've knocked all the doors 3 times. We'll walk down the street and I can just be like "taught in that house, taught in that house, those people hate us, she makes really good chocolatada, etc. etc." So yeah I'm... comodo jaja. 

The other struggle is the comp right now. This week it was like he just fell apart and didn't care any more. It was trucho thing after trucho thing, and I had to drag him out of bed and out the door most of the days. One of the days we were in an investigators house, and the investigator is buddy buddies with us, and Hernandez starts watching horror movies with him, and I'm like, "dude you shouldn't be watching this man," and he was like, "I don't even care dude," and then he went and told the investigator how bad boy he was cause he breaks all the rules. This week was also suuuuper difficult because 80 percent of the citas fell. Finally, yesterday, he was making himself lunch, and we had to leave in 10 minutes, and he starts making rice. I was like, "hey man weve got to leave in like 10 minutes," and he was like, "bro I don't care," even though all week he'd been telling me how much he loves el Señor, and I just freakin blew up on him. I bajoed caño like Joseph Smith on the mob guys in the prison. Later in the day we were walking, and I felt bad because, although he totally deserved everything he heard, I shouldn't have yelled and made him cry, so I said I was sorry and gave him a hug. I did tell him that I was sick and tired of the truchoness though, so I wrote up a document of the things he needs to improve, and we both signed it. I said that if I can see that hes putting in his effort to be better, I'll put in my effort to be more patient and undertanding. So well see how that goes, but I liked it cause it put a good end onto the week, and closed the week. 

A highlight from yesterday was that Miguel Zeniquel finally returned to church after we worked with him for months. We went to his house after, and talked with him, and it was seriously so sick because although he's been passing a lot of trials, he has a way firm testimony, and I think he's come back for good. 

I really do know this church is true. This war were fighting with Satan is really, really ugly, but the Señor needs his Rangers, the guys that will just grind it out even when the mud is foot deep and the peak of the mountain is way off in the distance. So the Elders of Tolhuin are gonna tighten the laces, ruck up, put a smile on the face, and SEGUIR ADELANTE. WE GONNA MAKE IT. 

Now to end the post with something funny, we were with a menos activa eating lunch, and she was talking about the topic of baptisms. She talks really fast, so my brain got tired and I phased out for like 30 seconds. Next thing I know she's talking about how the creator of the Smurfs is in a pact with the devil. I had to hold in laughter and it was way hard XD. 

Anyways, like my sister's fish, Gerald, Elder Jimenez was barely holding on to life this week, but he's alive, and still has ganas (desire) to work. (Sometime during the night on Friday, Sofia's Betta fish jumped out of it's bowl and landed on the floor, under the entry table. When I found it Saturday morning, I was sure it was dead. But then he flopped around and we hurried and put him back in the bowl. He was pretty black and sluggish all day, but we bought some medicine drops and added them to the fish bowl and by Sunday morning he had his color back was swimming around like nothing happened! What resilience!!!)

Go Herriman, aguante Tolhuin, AGUANTE FAMILIA JIMENEZ! 

Mom, I love you :) Tell the family I love em too! 
- Elder Jimenez

Alfredo Sauce from SCRATCH! 

The Pensh

La Capilla (The Church)

Random ice cream shop. The important part is the minions. I don't know why, but the people down here are literally nuts about the minions. Think about Moab and Kokopeles... you see minions no joke 2 times more in Argentina. It's hilarious jaja!

 RANDOM PICS AROUND TOLHUIN

The sign says, "TOLHUIN - Heart of the Island of the Land of Fire"

Tolhuin, Zona Rio Grande - Week 12... What didn't happen this week...

ALRIGHT HERE'S THE BIGGIE!!!!! 

So what didn't happen this week, 'CAUSE EVERYTHING HAPPENED!!! 

This week started out with, as you know, a p-day in Rio Grande. I pretty much spent the whole day chillin' with Elder Christensen. He's one of the nuevos from last transfer. He's a huge black kid from Logan. It's hilarious because he played football in high school (he's got a football scholarship to Nevada, hates BYU because he says Bronco was a total tonto (stupid), but I was like Kalani dude! Just do it!) but anyways, he played for Sky View whom Herriman beat in the semifinals on the way to the championship, so when he found out I was from Herriman, he was sooo salty haha! But we have a ton in common, so it was so dope to talk to him. It was also a good p-day, because as we were walking back to the lider (bus) station to take the combi, one of my favorite investigators, Anival, called us and told us that he was in Rio Grande. So we got to ride back to Tolhuin, free of charge, with one of the most colorful men I have ever met. It was sick haha! We ate pizza with him and Ana Silva/Adriana when we got back, so Lunes was a total party. 

Martes, I bought an electronic scale with my home money, that'll help me be more healthy. Aaaanyways, with my own funds I also bought some Mate cocido. It's yerba in a tea bag, so it's like mate without the hassle. Not bad at all, especially with leche en polvo y azucar. To be honest, it's probably pretty nasty but it's a little bit addicting, so it keeps me coming back haha. 

Later in the week we ate more pizza with some investigators, so everyone is just randomly making us pizza, and I love it. This week it rained A TON so it was pretty much a straight mud fest in Tolhuin. I was walking during the week, and I was thinking "Wow this totally would have grossed me out before the mish, but now I just dont care jaja" 

Also this week we met an interesting investigator. His name is Hugo Luciano Velardocchio, and the guys a complete guru. He lives alone, wears rugby shirts with short shorts, and I guess he writes a blog with 2-3 million followers, so if you guys could double check that for me, I'd really appreciate it. Just search his name. I hope he's not a total communist jaja (they're not super rare here). (I googled him and other than a bunch of "letters to the editor" I didn't find anything much.)

One of the menos activos made us hats, so that was dope. Shes totally ADD and every time I imagine her furiously knitting our hats, it makes me laugh inside. We found out traslados en Viernes (transfers on Friday). I was dying, cause there was a very real chance that I was going to tranfer out. The results were.... TOLHUIN FOR 6 MORE WEEKS BABY, LETS GOOOOOOO! So pumped, this area can't shake me man. That right Satan, TOMATELAAAAAAA!!! 

Anyways, we finished up my training by watching the 3 episodes of the district on the flat screen, y me puso un montón de trunky (and it made me super trunky). Seeing sunny San Diego, and all of the american missionaries that were like "we haven't baptized this traslado, so my life is ending now" Ohhhh, I miss the states. But it's okay, remember that scripture about the fishers and the hunters, Mom? I like being a hunter. 

Jeremiah 16:16: Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.

So tomatela to all the Cali fisher missionaries, I'm gonna bring down a grizzly one of these days in the next traslado, and we'll all be spiritually fed for months. Or maybe I'll just hunt a ton of castores (beavers), because I tried some this week, and they're wayyy rico (delicious). 

Speaking of food, I finally took the initiative and worked out a system with the members here so that the missionaries of Tolhuin from here on out have almuerzo (lunch) every day. So "you're welcome" to my Tolhuin posterity. Not gonna lie, I'm pumped about it too. Yesterday we ate lunch with los Vidal, which was great (empanadas super bueno) but one of their dogs threw up. I seriously do not get the concept of house pets. 

Anyway, this is the last part of the post AND THE BEST... Last night, we were heading to our last cita of the night. We were walking up to to their casa, and I felt like we should visit the family that lives right next to them. But I was like, we've got a cita fija (set appointment) with these guys, so we'll head over to them after, even if we have to stay out a bit late. So we knock the door, no answer. Sad, but suuuper typical here. Usually when the last cita falls, it's the worst feeling ever because it means an hour of unproductive contacting in the dark, but I didn't feel bad. I was actually pumped, because I wanted to head over to the other family. So we knock their door, and one of their little hijas opens, and was pumped to see us. We get in the door, and I start chattin' it up with the esposo, getting ready to teach. His name is Jose. So I'm about to start the lesson, and I look over at Elder Hernandez AND HE'S SLEEPING. I was like En serio (Seriously) dude??? Then his two hijas started fighting, and things were getting out of my hands. So I used some of the mints Mom gave me to quiet the girls down, then I started to teach. I asked Jose if he read the LdM (Book of Mormon). He had. He told me that he liked it. He also told me about how he had lost his first family, and was at one point really close to death, but he asked God to save him, and God delivered. He told me that he knows God exists. Then I whipped out Alma 7, and read 11-13 with him. I told him that Jesucristo had already felt his pain in that moment, and that he had already taken it away before Jose asked. Then I shared 14-15. When I started to read the spirit filled the room, and the scriptures told Jose that he needed to be baptized. All the stories about missionaries talk about how they bore their testimonies with spiritual power, and I thought it was never gonna happen to me, but after I read 14-15 I bore my testimony that Jesus Christ lives and the spirit PULSED in the room. After I bore my testimony, I asked him if he would like to be baptized, and he said "If I can know these things are true, then yes, I will. I'm bringing my family to church this week" HOLY COW!!!! I've been praying for investigators like this for months, and WE FINALLY FOUND EM! After grinding for months, it's lookin' like Tolhuin's gonna have bautismos this transfer!!! After all the fun, Hernandez woke up, and he also gave a good testimony, The Lord worked through us last night, and I'm TURNT about it. So please pray for Jose y Susanna. 

I really love the people of Tolhuin. I love my Savior, and I love the work that Heavenly Father has given Him to do, and I'm honored to be a part of it. 

To my family: LES AMO MUCHISIMO! Especially you Mom ;) Tell abuela I love her and I am grateful for her. 

I LOVE YOU GUYS - Elder Jimenez

Selfies con los gorros que recibimos de Hermana Sandra. ¡es capa ella!

(Selfies in the hats that Hna Sandra made us. She's awesome!)

My arm hairs after they totally got singed by the stove. (We light up the stove using a cheap bic lighter so its pretty much like "light the flame then get your hand out of there as fast as you freakin can" jaja)

You know you're home when you see a dead dog frozen into an open sewer. If it wasn't for the ice, I think I would have died on the spot from the smell jaja!