Rio Gallegos Centro, Zona Rio Gallegos - Week 11... Best Week of the Mish!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!! 

Alright, now that the most important business has been taken care of, let's get down to the nitty gritty ;) This week was fire. Cole es un genio, estoy en el reino celestial :D (Cole is a genius, and I am in the Celestial Kingdom!) Alright, that's a bit exaggerated, the mish is still hard, but this week felt sooo good. 

Some of the highlights: BAUTISMO! (BAPTISM!!!) Early in the week, we were with Los Baier, getting ready for Eduardito's baptism, and Luisa was like "Quiero que se bauticen juntos." (I want the two of you to get baptized together.) So I gave Joaquin the look, and he already knew. We wrapped that cast (he broke his arm about a month ago), and had a beautiful baptism. Went off without a hitch! It was awesome. 

 Alex, Eduardo, Eduardito, Joaquin (with the cast),

Luisa, Malena, Elder Cole

This week with Elder Cole was legit 'cause he never complains and actually tries to be obedient. We definitely saw the blessings for it too. We went from 14-15 lessons and 1 nuevo per week to 4 nuevos and 21 lessons this week, so we blew it up. Melisa didn't go anywhere, but Jose, el Columbiano, is still getting there. The road will be long, but seeds right? The nuevos (new investigators) we found all are mas o menos (more or less), so well see how that goes, I'm praying that they go well. 

We found a selfie stick in the Pensh!

There's a Seventy coming to Rio Gallegos on Wednesday, and he's going to do surprise visits to pensiones, so we deep cleaned today, and Sofia, I'll just tell you... you can never complain about cleaning a bathroom ever again in your life, cause I deep cleaned a missionary bathroom. In Argentina. So just count your blessings lol! 

So yeah, this week rocked, Dad is old, and BYU is actually gonna win the bowl with Tanner at the helm, so I'm happy. 

FAMILY! I love you guys! I love hearing about all the successes that you guys are having! Pray for Nikki, MOM I love you!! Tell Abuela that I love her and miss her company each Sunday!!!! 

VAMOS PATS. - Elder Jimenez/Belichick <- had to make Dad mad at least once for his birthday XD

PS: On Sunday we taught a lesson in church about the Christmas Campaign... "ILUMINA EL MUNDO (#LIGHTtheWORLD)", the presentation didn't work, so we had to improvise, but salio de diez (it turned out great), and DO IT!!! Here's the link for 25 Days of doing Good: 25 Ways Over 25 Days

Or a printable pdf: 25 Ways Over 25 Days PDF

And to Jose...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! 

Mom told me you wouldn't be expecting this, so surprise ;) The Argentines are celebrating your birthday, but no matter what day the actual historical event lands on, they always celebrate on Monday to work less lol! 

WOW! The sports section of this email had me LIT! When I read "Say hello to the Tanner era" a silent tear of joy left my weary eyes!! Elder Cole's from the Bay Area, so he's always like Woo Raiders, but then I whisper 49ers in his ear, his favorite team, and he cringes lol! 

As far as Thanksgiving, we didn't do anything, but I didn't feel trunky at all. There's kind of no point in celebrating it here... Christmas has been being celebrated since the start of November, but it's pretty lame here. There's not even fireworks is what I've heard... good ole Patagonia! 

Cole is a genio. He makes the mission way easier for me, so I begged Pres for another transfer in Rio Gallegos. We'll see what the Lord wants :) 

Anyway, I miss you guys, but I'm loving the mish right now, so not demasiado (I'm not missing you too much) :) District leader is just kind of a chore, plus I've got the hermanas, and I always think to myself "I shouldn't be dealing with these problems until I've got a hot wife!!!" Thank goodness I don't have Hermana Jimenez from Iquitos, Peru in my district though, or I might die... LOL love you Nikki! 

LOVE YOU DAD! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! - Not trunky Son :)

Rio Gallegos Centro, Zona Rio Gallegos - Week 10... Two weeks to fill the tank!

Here it be. The biggie. This is gonna blow your minds, crazy, stressful week, but I'm alive, so let's get into it. 

Monday was nuts, because there wasn't money, so I had to blow some home cash, which was sad, but ya fue. The day ended pretty great because we got to give a blessing of salud (health) to a family of recent converts that haven't been coming. They came to church yesterday, so it looks like the blessing must have worked. 

Tuesday was pretty tranqy. We found a new investigator named Melisa in the morning, which never happens here. She accepted a fecha bautismal which was really, really great, so we were excited! Me and Aguilar actually worked pretty well, all the way up until the end of the day, when it kind of died off for him, but at least he worked for half a day, it's better than nothing. 

Wednesday was when things got really crazy. We had a choir practice in the morning, then a vianda (meal) with the hermanas (sister missionaries) after that. We decided to eat the vianda juntos in the capilla (meal together in the church), so we went to the house, picked it up, and we were walking to the capilla, when Aguilar gets a call from president. President told him to pack his bags because he was going to be on a colectivo to Comodoro that night. So we didn't do anything the rest of that day, because he was packing, then we sent him off, and I had to stay with some of the other elders. I called president that night to talk to him, and try to help Aguilar out. President told me that Aguilar would not be returning to Gallegos, and that I would be receiving a new comp. 

I spent 3 days with the Elders from Gaucho, Gonzalez and Ross, and it was actually really good for me. They are both pretty obedient, and I was just tagging along, so I didn't have too much responsibility. 

Yesterday (Sunday) my new comp arrived. His name is Elder Cole, from San Jose, California, and he has 5 months in the mish. HE'S A BOSS!!! 

Yesterday, and today during the studies, he just followed my example, and it was great!! Last night, for example, we arrived at the pension at 8:53. With all my other comps, I wouldn't have said anything, cause they just would have thrown themselves on the bed, and done nothing, but I decided to try out my new comp. So I told him "Hey man, let's go do some contacts en la calle (on our street) until 9:00 to be obedient." AND WE DID IT! As we were walking back, he told me "I wanted to tell you that we should just stay in the pensh, but I knew deep down that this is what we should have done." A COMP WITH A MORAL COMPASS!!!! Due to the fact that we don't have Thanksgiving down here, IT WAS A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE! By the way, totally forgot about Thanksgiving lol! 

Eduardo received the priesthood this week, and Eduardito's baptism is going to be on Saturday!!! I'm so happy for those guys :D

Anyways, I'm super pumped, because although I'm only gonna have Elder Cole as my comp for 2 weeks, they're gonna be 2 weeks of butt-kicking glory. I know that the Lord has more trials and tests in store for me in the future, but it's almost like he decided to give me a two week break to fill the tank, so that I can get back up to speed, and start enjoying the mish again. So right now, I'm very happy. Our pool of investigators is progressing slowly, and I think these next two weeks are gonna get em popping. So let's see how it goes!!! 

FAMILY! Thank you so much for your support. I really do love you guys, and think about y'all all the time. MOM. You're my number 1!!!! 

LOVE YOU! - Elder Jimenez

Some dope kids we met in the street that all wanted to talk about Trump. 
I also tried to send the video of me opening my birthday gift, but it wouldn't load, so this is all for today :)

Rio Gallegos Centro, Zona Rio Gallegos - Week 9...

Ooooooookay, the biggie. Let's get this in. This week was a grinder. Again... no rest for the weary I guess haha! 

The baptism last week was sick, but it was like a bonfire of hope that was thrown under the waterfall of bad things that are happening in my mission right now. I'm still psyched about it, still love Eduardo to death, but the burst of energy from the baptism lasted until the next day no mas (nothing more). Honestly, I recognized that I am part of my own problems. The things suck. Ya esta (that's it). If I choose to focus on it, and think negatively, it just makes it worse for me, but if I just say, ya fue, ya esta, and seguir adelante... the things will salir bien (that's it, that's how it is, keep moving forward... things will turn out OK). I noticed that late in the week though lol! So the start of the week was the normal, dragging my 3 year old around, who was crying the whole time. Eternal blessings to my parents who aguantared (put up with me) me when I was a niño (little boy), because sadly, I'm actually getting a taste of that experience right now. 

Things got interesting on Wednesday though. We got a call from Pres. He bajared the caña (scolded) on my comp for some macana (mischief) that he did in Comodoro, and essentially told me that Aguilar had to be perfect this week, or action will be taken. I essentially told him, "Dude, I'm here to work and not to babysit. You heard what Pres said, so you can choose if you want to change, or just keep being trucho (lazy). I'm not gonna wake you up in the morning. If you don't want problems, wake up, if you want problems, don't wake up, it's your problem." He lasted a day, and then just kept doing what he was doing before. The crazy thing is that he finds everyone in the universe to blame, including me, before ever believing that the problem could be him. It's whatever though, really it's his mission, if he wants to waste it and drag other people down when he's around them, it's his choice. As for me, I just need to keep standing tall, working hard, and being obedient. 

I won't lie, my obedience has taken a hit. I'm still obedient, I wake up on time, but I don't have the zeal I used to. It's way hard. But if I've learned anything in the mission, it's that anything is possible if the Señor (Lord) is on your side. I trust that everything is happening according to his will, and I'll just keep going, doing the best I can to fit in with what he wants me to do. Overall, this week was really rough, but it's nothing new. 

On the bright side, the Colombians are still talking to us, so were gonna work that from all angles. 

FAMILY: I love and miss you guys!!! You are all some of the best people I know, and I'm honored to be your son, brother, and grandson. 

Keep the faith, we're gonna make it through together! 

MOM! I love you, you're my HERO! 

See y'all soon - Elder Jimenez

On top of all of the frustrations of the week, Alex told me that they are changing up the way they do money in the mission and now they are getting it on the 1st and 15th. Since they had to pay all their bills the first half of the month, they were out of money by today (the 14th) and he had to buy groceries and pay for the internet for both himself and Aguilar... So that was another sore spot. I reminded him that it's really just a few dollars, but it was just the idea of it that had him frustrated. 

AND... even though he didn't receive any of the packages for his birthday, he did buy himself a harmonica (he thinks it will be fun to play on the street) and he had the birthday present that I slipped into his suitcase before he left for the MTC. Honestly, I wasn't sure if he would wait for his birthday to open it, but he did. That makes me feel a little happiness about him being so far away!

And to Jose:
So much news... the question that's burning on my mind though is if BYU got into the Big 12 or not. What happened there??? 

The Columbianos are progressing well, but slowly. No new investigators and Aguilar... read the biggie no mas. 

Trump was everywhere this week, and it just kind of makes me sad and more tired, but I'm just gonna not think about it, and everything will salir bien (turn out OK). Brendan is a boss, love that guy! 

As far as college football, you successfully made me trunky, so good job there haha! Don't stop though, cause hearing about football is one of the highlights of my week lol! GO BADGERS! 

As far as Skype goes, we'll see, but right now, I've got to take things day by day, so you'll have to forgive me if I forget about Christmas for now haha! 

I seriously miss just being able to chill with you and Mom, and just be tranqy, but the day will come. As for now, I'm gonna keep going hard, fighting for the end of the transfer, and we'll see how things go from there. It's sad, 'cause although we had a perfect baptism, I'm just kind of sick of Rio Gallegos and want to leave it behind. We'll see. 

Thanks for all you do Dad, you always give me more animo (enthusiasm) than I had before! 

I love you!!! - Elder Son

Rio Gallegos Centro, Zona Rio Gallegos - Week 8... Happiest week in the mish

I thought I should put this first...

Alright, THE BIGGIE! So we're just gonna start off with what you're all questioning... WE WERE WETTER THAN STEPH CURRY THIS WEEK! First baptism of the mish, Eduardo Antonio Baier, and he's a capo! He told me that he already started prepping names for the temple, and he'll be receiving el Sacerdocio (the Priesthood) this next Sunday, then he is going to baptize 2 of his kids on the 19th! So pumped. It's been such a long struggle, but we finally did it! 

Luisa and Eduardo's kids are named Joaquin, Eduarduito, and Malena, 12, 8, and 6 respectively. Joaquin is boss, he wants to serve a mission, Eduardito is the most innocent person I've ever met, and Malena is just awesome. Plus the whole family are big Star Wars nerds, so I'm pretty sure I'll be watching episode 32 in the celestial kingdom with those guys :)

Alright, other things... I had to bail out the font after the baptism because the drain doesn't work, so that was nuts. The even crazier thing was that one of the other gringos helping dated Kess about a month before we hooked up, so one could say he was the assist on my put back shot lol! Elder Petersen from South Jordan :) 

As far as the rest of the week goes, it was a struggle. Comp has no ganas para nada (no desire to do anything), but I'll find a way. Every trial I get helps me learn and improve, so we'll just keep going. 

My Colombian brothers, Jose y Anderson, both came to the baptism and loved it! Jose also came to church yesterday. We passed by his house later that night, and he and Anderson both said that they would like to be baptized in the future. Didn't want to accept a fecha (baptismal date), but we have the goal. Anderson told me "I want the Hermano Jimenez to baptize me". It was sick haha! Jose also told me "I think everyone in the group looks to you as the leader. When you speak, they all listen and think ´Alright the leader just got up.´" I was thinking in my head "You have no idea, but I'm flattered." It's good to have nice things said about you sometimes, and although I don't want to let it get to my head, it's also important to accept compliments graciously right?? Haha! 

Anyways, I didn't journal this week, because I officially ran out of space in the journal, but I made an exception for the baptism, and wrote it on a separate sheet, don't worry Mom lol! And I did not get the other packages either. None of the gringos are, so for now, you might want to stop sending :(

So yeah, the struggle is too real out here, but I'm just choosing to focus on the good stuff :) The bad stuff will work itself out. So proud of my family, especially my Mom, and my sister Sofia, cause you're slaying life right now, AND I'M NOT EVEN A CUBS FAN, BUT M PROUD OF DEM CUBS!!!! Break out the bomb shelters everybody, because if Trump wins, it is not statistically possible that the second coming doesn't happen! 

Love you guys, LOVE YOU MOM!!! - Elder Jimenez/Curry

To Jose:

What a sick email!!! 

Today (Alex's 19th Birthday), like you, I noticed how much I really have changed this year of my life. It's weird, because Elder Aguilar is the prototype of a teenager, and we are legit so different. I think that to see how much I really have changed, I had to see a type of what I was before. And wow, I never want to go back lol. 

THE CUBS WON THE WORLD SERIES! You said that they came back from 3-1, and I was like, Did Lebron start playing baseball???? So sick though. 

As far as your other comments, I'm starting to see that the Lord has a purpose to each trial. I have learned from each of my companions - Elder Wilhelm: How to lead and work hard. Elder Hernandez: How to be patient. Elder Bobadilla: How stay positive and rely on the Lord. And now Elder Aguilar: How to love and adjust to others needs ;)  

The baptism was legit, and it's looking like we've got 3-4 more coming, so keep the prayers coming. 

Dad, I love you and admire you, it makes me laugh thinking of you trying to jam the light clips under the roof tiles all alone XD. You are the model of what I want to be in life. In fact, you'll be weirdly surprised to know that apple pie has become my favorite dessert down here, so I think I might be taking this model of my life thing a bit to far haha! That's what Ill be eating today though :) 

LOVE YOU DAD! - Elder Son