Goodbye Elder Jiménez, Río Gallegos lo va a extrañar! Éxito en Trelew

I LOVE facebook!!! One of the members in Rio Gallegos saw my post yesterday saying that I hadn't heard from Alex. She posted these pics, let me know that he is going to Trelew, and said some very nice words...

Hola! Su hijo se fue ayer de Río Gallegos, es uno de los mejores misioneros que conozco, es tan chistoso y es una gran persona! Río Gallegos le aprecia mucho!!:) Hoy martes le tiene que escribir, ayer estaba viajando a las 18hs hacia Trelew. Es un capo su hijo, re obediente misionero y muy chistoso, lo quiero mucho! Gran amigo. 

(Hello, your son left Rio Gallegos yesterday. He is one of the best missionaries I know. He is so funny and is a great person! Rio Gallegos loves him a lot!! Today, Tuesday, he should write. Yesterday he was travelling the 18 hours to Trelew. Your son is a boss! Very obedient missionary and very funny. I love him a lot. He's a great friend!)

Hopefully Alex doesn't curse me for wishing him to Trelew... It's been known to be in the 90s there. But since the summer is over and they are headed into fall, hopefully he will just have an enjoyable temperature to work in :)

 And another couple of pics posted by the Rio Gallegos Zone Leader's mom...

Rio Gallegos Centro, Zona Rio Gallegos - Week 24... No Word From Alex...

After almost 6 months in Rio Gallegos, Alex should be transferring tomorrow, and it looks like he's too busy packing to write his momma!

Anyone want to take a guess about where he's going? I'm guessing (hoping) for the north of the mission - Trelew area - so that he can warm up a little bit :) It would also give him another excuse for not writing... it's probably about a 20 hour bus ride.

Rio Gallegos Centro, Zona Rio Gallegos - Week 23... Rain, Rain, Rain

Hello family :) That's what's up with the BOCA jerseys!!! Viva BOCA!!! 

 We had to go to Valley Fair mall (little Mexico) Saturday, and found BOCA jr jerseys. So Sofia and Jose posed for a pic to send to Alex.

I heard the stories about Nikki and Kevin. Those guys are just horrible at vacation haha! Austin and I are gonna show those guys whats up after the mish ;) 

So this week... totally sucked!!! We worked hard all week, rackin' in 90 contacts, and saw almost no exito (success). What gives me hope though, is that the hermanas also had a hard week last week, and this week they're slaying, so I'm keeping my head up for my last week in Gallegos. I'm still not sure where I'm going next, but I talked with President, and he said I'm out of here for sure this time around, which makes me a bit sad. Let's finish it good! 

This week... What happened... We literally contacted all week. It was not fun! Plus, for two of the days, it rained a ton, and for the first time since Tolhuin, I double layered my puffer jacket with my Mr Mac overcoat. All day out in the rain was a party. I would send you guys pics, but this computer is dumb, so you'll have to wait till next week :( 

Aaaaaaanyways, my miracle of the week would be Viviana. We were contacting on Saturday, and we started to contact this lady Viviana. I gave a decent contact, and then she was like "Yeah, come on in, this interests me". We were left boquiabiertos (with out mouths open)! I was almost like "Excuse me ma'am, you're supposed to say "I'm busy" or "Otro dia" LOL! But no, she let us in and we taught a good lesson. On Sunday, we passed by, and she was actually ready to go to church. She told me that she had read the introduction of the Book of Mormon, and all the testimonies. Then, as we were driving, we saw Carlos walking, and picked him up, and she totally knows him! She stayed all three hours, liked it, and were gonna be going back this week! We may not have had a lot of success this week, but I'm so grateful that we at least found someone! So that was great! 

Carlos is doing really well. He recieved the Aaronic Preisthood yesterday, which was really lindo (beautiful). The branch even had a future elders class this week because we've baptized so much in these months that now they have a class. Sacrament Meeting was also really cool because out of the 55 (mas o menos (more or less)) people that attended, 20 were either recent converts or investigators! So go Distrito Rio Gallegos! The Zone is also baptizing a lot right now, and we'll probs be the Bautizona (highest baptizing zone in the mission) this month. I'm glad that Elder Allen, Carlos, and I contributed :) 

Anyways, I had a rough week, but it could have been worse. The best was that when I was reporting the numbers, which were not great, my Zone Leader was like "Hey Jimenez, don't worry man, even though I'm seeing these numbers, I know how you are. You had a hard week, but we don't have to worry about it." Reading my mail today really strengthened me, and now I feel ready to face next week! Really, to all that emailed me this week, thank you (Especially Dad (like always), Grandma, and Grandpa) Your emails really strengthened me! I LOVE YOU GUYS! 

Have a great week, hopefully I'll be having a good one too! I LOVE YOU MOM!!!! -Elder Jimenez

Rio Gallegos Centro, Zona Rio Gallegos - Week 22... All the glory to God

BAUTISMO!!!! Everyone can stop questioning, cause now y'all know! Carlos was baptized and confirmed without a problem :) By far the highlight of the week! 

Starting this transfer, I didn't have the faith that I was going to baptize again in Rio Gallegos, but God helped me with my faith, and shows me constantly that miracles are possible. All the glory to him! 

After that, not a lot more happened during the week. On Monday, I gave in to temptation, and used some of my Christmas money to buy 1. a trucho BOCA jersey (I've officially left San Lorenzo in the dust cause they're not big enough for an extranjero like me) and 2. an ORIGINAL Argentine seleccion jersey. I'll take pics next week, they're sick!!! 

On Tuesday, Carlos almost decides to not get baptized cause he got mad at his friend (ohhhhhh Carlos, pure drama) but we were able to calm him down, and he reset the fecha :) 

The week of work was really dry. We taught very little, but we contacted a ton! To help y'all put it in perspective, a high number of contacts per week that a good companionship of missionaries gets is 50. We had 100 this week. LOTS OF CONTACTING! 

We had a conference with President this week (which is why he was at the bautismo). It was really good, and helped me continue to develop faith to find and baptize. Presidente Salerno really knows what he's doing! We also had entrevistas afterwards, and it was good to hear that I'm training well. I always feel like I'm not doing well enough, but Pres helped me see that I'm doing a good job :) The entrevistas ended way late though, so we had way little time to empty the font. To remind you guys, the font drain is broken, so we have to empty it with buckets. By the time we finished, it was already 10:30pm, and the Zone Leaders (who had showed up later to help us) had already called a taxi. So we just put on our suit coats, and now y'all have that sweet pic XD 

The crazy way we were dressed after emptying the font late at night 

and being forced to leave by the ZLs before we could change 

The bautismo was perfect! Carlos gave a great testimony afterwards. He really seems like he's gonna be a great member. Sunday was tranqy no mas. So yeah, pretty sweet week :) 

FAMILY: I miss you guys! I'm not trunky at all, but I do think about you guys and pray for y'all a lot! Hope you're well. So happy that Sofia's a boss, and I want the whole world to know it! MOM: You're the jefa, keep Dad in line! 

I LOVE YOU! Love you guys! - Elder Jimenez

Some cool investigators that left on vacation until March, so I took their pic :P

Rainbow out the window of our Pensh...

PS - Although all of the packages have now been returned to the states, I did receive the non-package shutterfly calendar and I love all the family pics in it!

Rio Gallegos Centro, Zona Rio Gallegos - Week 21... I have officially missed the greatest sports period EVER

PATRIOTS PATRIOTS PATRIOTS PATRIOTS PATRIOTS PATRIOTS PATRIOTS PATRIOTS PATRIOTS PATRIOTS PATRIOTS PATRIOTS PATRIOTS PATRIOTS PATRIOTS PATRIOTS PATRIOTS PATRIOTS PATRIOTS PATRIOTS PATRIOTS PATRIOTS PATRIOTS PATRIOTS PATRIOTS PATRIOTS PATRIOTS PATRIOTS PATRIOTS PATRIOTS PATRIOTS PATRIOTS PATRIOTS PATRIOTS PATRIOTS PATRIOTS PATRIOTS PATRIOTS PATRIOTS PATRIOTS PATRIOTS PATRIOTS PATRIOTS PATRIOTS PATRIOTS PATRIOTS PATRIOTS PATRIOTS TOM BRADY IS THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Remember that trifle recipe Mom, BECAUSE IT'S MAGICAL! Alright, I seriously am sad now. Elder Jimenez leaves on the mish, and the greatest NBA championship, the greatest World Series, and the greatest Superbowl happen in the same year. And BYU wins their bowl. And Alabama loses. And the US plays their first COPA America. I have officially missed the greatest sports period ever! I better be stockin' up some serious blessings for this! Alright, I have to move on, or I'm gonna be trunky. 

This week was great! We broke our lesson record once again, teaching 15 lessons with investigators this week! So that was really sweet. Cristian's parents are doing alright. We're still teaching, but they're progressing slowly. Also, one of our families of investigators, that I think is gonna get baptized, is going on vacation until March, so that makes me sad, but at least I'll plant a real good seed. Carlos came to church yesterday for the 4th time, and the craziest thing, is that right at the end of testimony meeting, he got up and gave his testimony! It was a great testimony! I was thinking of saving this surprise for next week, but I think it's pretty obvious from that last part, that CARLOS IS GETTING BAPTIZED THIS SATURDAY! We moved his fecha up this week, and y'all should be seeing pics with Elder Allen in the whites next week :D So were way pumped for that! 

The week literally flew by, so that was good. I cleaned our bathroom today, and now everythings sparkling almost as much as the 10 superbowl rings that adorn the blessed fingers of football legends Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. If I could get a Belichick jersey, I would XD The Columbianos were as flakey as always. We had a Zone Meeting on Saturday, and it was great. It helped get pumped to start baptizing some more! 

Sad thing though is that the oficionistas finally sent the package slips that I needed to take packages out, and all three packages have already been returned, so the Jimenez Family will be enjoying more of Mom's dessert creations haha! As long as my teams keep winning though, I'm okay with it. 

So yeah, great week. Elder Allen is getting better every week. I'm really trunky about missing all these great moments with the fam, but who knows, maybe if I keep baptizing out here, BYU will win the National Championship while I'm a freshman.... ;) 

Thank you so much to all who pray for me and my mission. The prayers are felt! 

To my fam: IN YOUR FACE DAD! Also, I love you guys :) Tell Sofia that she's a bum and needs to email me! LOVE YOU MOM! - Elder Bittersweet