Hey everybody :)
I'm glad that you guys enjoyed each others company this week!
This week for me was pretty busy! We gave 2 conferences, one on Wednesday in Trelew and one on Friday in Comodoro, both of which went well. We decided to continue focusing on the plan we put in motion in January, so we're reviewing some stuff in the conferences, as well as refining the plan a bit. It's going really well.
The historic record of the Patagonia for baptisms in a month is 38, which we set last year in July, which down here is always the most productive month. However, last year, President Salerno had put the goal of achiving 45 in a month. It was always there in our minds, but we never came very close apart from when we got 38, and most of the time, although it would have been cool, the missionaries didn't really put it as a real goal.
So this year, President Salerno (<-genious) decided that, instead of putting a super high goal every month that we never achieve, he put trimestral (tri=3, mes=month, trimestral=3 months, o sea, 4 per year) goals of 96 baptisms per trimester. He told us that if we can get 96 bautismos per trimester, even though wed only have to get 32 per month, instead of 45, we would increase the baptisms by 50% this year.
Closing up February, the funniest thing happened. We achieved 25 baptisms in January (which although it's not 32, is way more than last year, and a great achievement considering that we also had a good month in December), so that left us with 71 more baptisms to achieve the trimestral goal. Then, last month, we achieved 26 baptisms (which was really cool because for the first time ever in the mission, we're consistently having good months, with an increasing trend of baptsims), and when you subtract 26 from 71, it leaves you with.... 45.
March is different though. Weve never been so prepared as a mission to reach 45 baptisms. There are tons of investigators that have accepted baptisimal dates, and with the plan we put in place, the leaders have made a huge change, and are leading their zones and districts with a lot more ingenuity and power. I've got a great feeling about this month! If we can get 45 my last full month of the mission, and on top of that, achieve the 96 per trimester the first time we go after it, I will die happy!
Today, I'm writing from Calafate. On Saturday we came down here because President wanted to assist church, which was really cool. We got to do divisions with the elders here and a member. I went with the member, named Nico. We were knocking doors, not having much success, and I was like "Alright Nico, we need to set a goal. What do you want the goal to be?" We decided that we wanted to put 3 appointments for the elders to go to. We said a prayer, asking the Lord to help us with our goal, then, the next door we knocked, a man named Ricardo let us in! We taught a very spiritual lesson, and left him with a ton of interest and a return appointment. We then went on to set two more appointments with the next two people that we stopped in the street as we walked back to the meeting place with the other missionaries. I know that if we let the Lord know about our righteous plans, and ask him for help, we will have success!
President had to go to Chile for a couple days, so now, we're going to pass PDay here, then make our way to Rio Gallegos to prepare my last conference. Today, we're going to go see el Glaciar Perito Moreno, the biggest growing glacier in the world. I'm pumped! :D
To end on a spiritual note, this week, I've made an extra effort to read the Book of Mormon every day, and boy have I seen the blessings! I've been reading every night before I go to bed, and I kid you not, I've been sleeping better than ever! The Book of Mormon has become the keystone of my testimony, and I know that if we read it in a spirit of prayer every day, all the promised blessings from the prophets for doing so will be realized in our lives.
FAMILY: I'm glad that you guys were able to pass some time together this week! SOFIA! BYU! BYU! BYU! Nos vemos muchacha! MOM: You just had a same old same old week, being the hero that you are :) LOVE YOU! Love you guys :) - Elder Jimenez
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