Thursday, June 22, 2017

Union 1, Zona Trelew Sur - Week 16... COLD in Patagonia

Those fotos look awesome! I'm really happy that you guys were able to find the keys, that would have been really bad. (The wind was so strong that it ripped the bag with my keys out of Sofia's hand, and went flying across the prairie dropping things along the way... losing our car keys on the Tallgrass Prairie in Nowhere Kansas... but after some very sincere prayers, she found them - HOORAY!) Now just think about that wind you felt. Rio Gallegos. Every day. LOL! 

Tell Ellie that she's awesome and that were gonna watch Star Wars together when I get home. Tell her that I'm serving a mission on Hoth, because that's how I feel haha! 

This week was rough. Like, really rough. Bad. Monday night, we got a call from the assistants telling us that they changed the fecha of the conferencia con Presidente (date of the Conference with President Salerno), and that we were going to have it on Thursday. THANKS FOR LETTING US KNOW! So that was crazy, getting things all worked out. 



We finally got the whole situation of disobedience worked out as well, so that was a chore, but it's finally over. 


Thursday, during the conference, the weather outside started deteriorating. It started getting cold, colder, then really cold, then it started to sprinkle. When we got to the pension, we were getting ready to go to bed, when there was a mini emergency, and we had to go save some elders. So we leave the pension and IT'S SNOWING! Thursday night was the first time it has snowed in Trelew for 5 YEARS. I think Satan made a deal with the Patagonia this week... Luckily, the snow stopped, but all of Friday and Saturday, it poured freezing rain. 



The pic I sent was the gear I used to attempt to keep warm. 2 sets of thermals, my shirt, a sweater, my jacket, and my Mr. Mac overcoat and it DIDN'T DO A DANG THING! 

 He said he suffered, but doesn't he look happy in this pic... 
This must have been before they went out into the cold :)


As far as weather goes, those two days were some of the worst of my mission. But we gutted 'em out like good missionaries should. We didn't have much success. The craziest part was that one night, we passed by a members house to give him something, and he lives in one of the sketchier areas of the area, and the sun went down, and all of the sudden: power outage. When we left his house, the barrio was completely black. There was water everywhere, and I wasn't sure if I was more fearful of getting mugged or getting ran over by a car! We hightailed it out of there, and went to Mathew's house, where we had a candlelight lesson in his tiny room because even the capilla (chapel) didn't have light. 


Yesterday was also really cold, and even though I held out like a champ on Friday and Saturday, Domingo (Sunday) got to me. It was freezing and dark, and we were contacting, and the people still didn't give us the time of day. It always happens, but yesterday, it just got to me. I got really frustrated. Igual, I'm a bit embarrassed that I let myself get down. A missionary with my experience shouldn't let stuff like that get to him, but it just did this time around. It's alright though, I'm gonna put it in the past, and try and have an extra high faith level and extra good attitude for the rest of the winter. BRING IT ON PATAGONIA! 

I might need to buy some new winter gear though, because everything I've got is really beat up. My boots have got holes, and all my jackets are really old. One of them has a patch made of tape on the arm XD So ghetto! My backpack also has a huge hole in the bottom, but I kinda love that thing, and don't want to give it up, so I'll try to jerryrig algo haha! 

As for the miracle of the week, there was a really important one. On Sunday, the first hour of church (Priesthood), Matthew didn't show up. I said a prayer, asking Heavenly Father to please wake him up. This attendance was really important to me because, although he already has his 3 asistencias, we want to see him come 3 weeks straight before baptizing him, and if he didn't come yesterday, his fecha of July 1st would fall. So we got into the 2nd hour, and he still didn't come. I said another prayer, asking the same thing. Then I got a bit frustrated. I love that guy to death, he's probably the best friend I've made here in the mission, but he's just so lazy sometimes. So I got disanimated (discouraged), because it was obvious that he wasn't going to come, and I wasn't going to be able to see his baptism. But then, 5 minutes after Sacrament Meeting started, in walks MATHEW! I almost started crying. I love that guy so much, and the thought of not being able to be there for his special day was killing me, but Heavenly Father woke him up, and he came. So we're going to be working extra hard this week, and I think well have a baptism on the 1st of July! 

That's all for this week. Especially during these hard times, I would really appreciate your prayers. Please pray for me, that I may have the same strength, endurance, and faith as the pioneers had so many years ago. 

FAMILY: I love you guys! 
DAD! Feliz Dia del Padre! Te amo! 
SOFIA! Happy birthday yesterday! 
MOM! LOVE YOU! 

- Elder Jimenez  

Awesome lunch we had this week!

And to Jose...
HAPPY FATHERS DAY!!! 

It's been an honor to be your son and to have a father as incredible as you. You've done and are doing a great job. I LOVE YOU! I never knew Abuelo, but I've felt him many times in my life. He would be proud of the father you've been. 

As far as home goes, it sounds like a pretty good Presidency to report to. That's cool that Kevin is doing that triathlon. Warriors, blah. 

This week was brutal. We had a surprise conference with President, and then the Patagonia got angry. Rain poured on us for 2 straight days, and we couldn't get into any doors. It was a trial, and I did mas o menos. My attitude could have been way better. But it's just like contacting, the first one is always bad, but that helps you have good ones after. I got disanimated this week (even though I kept working) but I still got disanimated. I'm going to consecrate the rest of this winter to the Lord to make up for it. NOTHING WILL STOP ME! Just know when your job gets rough that I'm right there with yah, let's put these months in together. 

LOVE YOU! - Elder Jimenez 



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