Winter is coming

Elder Himes is sorry - he didn't have time to write a letter today, but he did upload these awesome pictures. Enjoy. (This message was brought to you from Samuel's dad)

Held up by the wind

Selfies in the snow

Gauchos hats. All the cool cowboys wear them.

Still Alive

Hey Team! 

I'm sorry, I have no time today. Just know that I love all of you, and we are seeing miracle down here. I love life so much! And I hope that you all have a great week!

Love,

Elder Himes

General Conference!

Hey Team! Wow Was general Conference not just amazing? Oh my heavens I felt the spirit so incredibly strong. I have so much to improve and change. I love it!

A few cool/funny stories. 

Saturday morning session we wanted to do something cool with the branch, so the missionaries got there early and made pancakes for the whole branch. We got it set up really nice and made a ton. In total, 7 people showed up for our special missionary breakfast, so we got to eat a lot of pancakes each!

We were in gringo land watching conference on a computer. It was a small room. And we shut the door cause it was cold and we didn't want to hear the other conference playing in the chapel. Then, someone knocked on the door. We tried to open it, but we couldn't. We realized that the door, once shut, doesn't open from the inside. We told Gonzalo (the little 8 year old that was knocking on the door to go find the keys.) He then let us out. Then five minutes later the talk "Were are the keys" Came on by Elder Renlund. We all laughed a lot. 

Before the priesthood session we went and bought a kilo of ice-cream even though it was really cold outside. The tradition continues!

The spirit really touched me this conference. I had lots of questions answered. Something that really stuck out to me this conference was humility. It was talked about a lot. One of my favorite questions was answered by elder Uchtdorf. Is it really more important to be right than to have an atmosphere where you can feel the spirit? Nope. It is not. Being humble is so incredibly important. When we are humble, we are willing and seeking to repent. We accept the course correction that we need. 

Please be humble. Please be willing to change. I love you guys so much. I know that this is the one and only true church. It really is the most important thing in the world. Please remember that. 

Sorry team, conference gets me all excited. I really do love you all so much. Have a great week! 

Love,

Elder Himes

Easter

Hey team! How is it going? I hope that you all had a wonderful Easter. 

This really is the greatest time of the year! Cause we just had Easter and now we have General Conference coming up! It is going to be incredibly good. I want to challenge all of you guys to go into the general conference with a question in your heart. I did it the last general conference. 

I had about a month in Argentina and was feeling somewhat overwhelmed. Not being able to speak, or teach, and not having any Idea what I was doing. Basically my question was how the heck am I going to do this? Then I heard the testimonies of the three new apostles. They all spoke about how God works through the weak people. So my answers was that I wasn't going to do it. I just needed to calm down and turn it over to God. Basically it was exactly what I needed when I needed it. And I know that It can work for you all too! 

So find a question, or a doubt. ponder and pray about it, and look for the answer. It will be there.

I love you so much! You guys are the greatest team I could ask for. Keep on loving each other! 

Love,

Elder Himes

Gonzalo is my hommie!

Last lunch with Elder Cortes

The Familia Cristaldo. They are awesome!

Transfer 2 in Calafate

Hey there everyone! This is the last week of my 2nd transfer here in Calafate! It is flying by! 

This area has been really good. And I have learned a ton! I think that one of the most important things has been enjoying every moment of the mission. I remember at the beginning of the transfer we had a really hard day. We walked a ton, we didn't get into a single house, and it started raining at the end of the day. And the whole day I was just throwing a little pity party. 

This week we had a very similar day. We couldn't get in anywhere, we walked up and down huge hills, and it started to rain. But the whole time I felt on top of the world. Perspective is so important. Im really starting to gain a testimony of the fact that we can choose to be happy and grateful. I still would have liked to have been able to get into house and teach, and not be in the rain, but those things didn't determine my happiness. AHH Flip! I just love life and the gospel!

Also team! Get super excited for General Conference! It is going to be super cool! Be sure to go in with a question! Its going to be awesome!

I love you all loads!

Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Himes

Lessons

Hey Team! This week was super good!

Can I just tell you what one of the best feelings is? Coming back to the pension just completely exhausted, But knowing that you gave everything to share your testimony. It is great!

This week we had a really humbling experience. My comp and I were walking to an appointment with a member to teach an investigator, and were were a little far away, and a little late. So we were going pretty quick. As we were walking down this dirt road in the middle of nowhere this man comes up to us and stops us. He said, "I tell you what, I've been drinking, smoking and listening to the football game, but I came up to talk to you. Why? Cause of respect." I thought, "Oh great. We are going to be late." 

He started to talk about how he had talked with missionaries before in Cordoba, and he wanted us to go by his house. So we set up an appointment with him and went on with our day. 

A few days past and we went to the appointment. I wasn't feeling that good about it. I was thinking that he wasn't going to be there or was just going to be a crazy guy. But we got in, and he told us that his dad had died two days ago - the very day he talked to us in the street, he got the news a few hours later. We were able to teach and testify about the plan of salvation. I was reminded that the Lord is preparing the people. I realized that everyone of us has a potential to be like our older brother Jesus Christ. We may not believe it, there may be doubts, but it is true and there is nothing that can change it.

I love you all so much! You are the greatest, Thank you for all the support!

Love,

Elder Himes

A Week of Miracles

Hey team! How goes it?  

We had a week of miracles! The truth is, it has been a little rough in Calafate. It was really hard cause all of our investigators told us to come back later, cause they were all busy. We were really struggling finding people and seeing little progress. I was really frustrated cause we were being obedient, and working really hard. I had thoughts like, what the heck! Why isn't it easier? I want success now! 

We did a fast to be able to find more people. Then I did something that I want to do for the rest of the mission. I forgot myself and went to work. This week I stopped thinking about myself, and started to love everything about the mission. I didn't let one person reject us with out sharing my testimony and telling them God loves them. This week we were blessed with progress. We found like 8 new people to teach and they all have baptismal dates right now.

The Miracles do come, my family and friends. Please know that. They come, we just need to know that they come in Gods time. I love you all so much!

Love,
Elder Himes

Sunsets!

Making Tortas Fritas

The Buses of Argentina

The Organization of the Rama in 28

Another sunset

The cutest little girl I've met in my life, named Araceli

We tried to make cookies...

A really pretty lake

2 am selfie

Elder Grifits, one of my really good missionary friends

Another bus pic

I am a nerd