Elder Tadje in Guatemala

What's good in the hood?!  We had a lit week here in Solola- yesterday we were able to hike a volcano!!! Lake Atitlan (Waters of Mormon, right below our area) is so beautiful and has 3 volcanos right around it! We hiked San Pedro La Laguna which was the most ridiculous hike I've ever done. By the end of the day (with working in our area too) we had walked 20 kilometers, and climbed an elevation of 5,600 feet! Haha the entire zone's having a hard time walking today. Our house is kinda small- about the same size as my area before, just divided into rooms. The best part is that we don't have keys to it!!! We had to do what everyone here does, and tie a 'pita,' or a little string tied to the inside. (there's no door handles here) We stick that through the window and pull it to open the door. Just pray that no random person from the streets notices it... haha This week was kind of rough for the zone... Three of our areas didn't have an investigator...

Hey what up Elder Tadje here in SOLOLA!!!!  Everything was going well in our area, Elder Velez and I were on fire in Barcenas, then Thursday we got a call from President that there were emergency changes! For BOTH of us!!! Elder Velez got sent to the office to be the executive secretary of the mission in his training still, which has NEVER happened. (must´ve had a good trainer or something... I don´t know haha) And I got sent to Solola!! Right now we´re in a trio with Me, Elder Salazar from Honduras, and Elder Carter who´s only here until Friday until the AP (Jacob Newell´s cousin) is done training the new one. This is by far the prettiest area in the mission. It´s right by a little city called Panajachel, and Lake Atitlan!!! The COOLEST part is that Lake Atitlan is supposed to be the waters of Mormon in the Book of Mormon!!! We even have an institute study book of the BOM and it shows pictures of the lake when it talks about Alma! It´s so cool to be in a site where act...

What up everyone, Elder Tadje comin at ya with LIGHT!!!!! Our electricity's been out for a week cuz the guy in the tienda before us hasn't given us our light bill since October!!! So we had a fun week of flashlights but as of yesterday we are good.  There's something that Elder Velez and I have been noticing this week- All of the people in Guatemala get their clothes from pacas, or megapacas. A megapaca is basically DI and pacas are just any random house where people decide to hang their clothes outside and sell them. But all the clothes come from the states, and a ton from Utah. So we see a million BYU and U of U shirts! But we have noticed that all of the people with Utah shirts are really angry and never want to talk to us, and the people with the BYU shirts are super open and friendly and receptive. Not sure if there's a reason behind that... haha This week's been really good in Barcenas!! We have a baptism this Sunday- her name's Eibon Garcia, she...

We had a pretty great weekend in Barcenas Guatemala! Elder Velez and I were able to have the baptisms of Monica Carrillo, Anthony Morales, and Anji Cortee! The services were all really special and spiritual and it was such a blessing to be a part of 3 people entering the path to God's kingdom!  We've been keeping busy- last change the mission norm changed. The "standards of excellency" are now 1 baptism per week, 8 investigators  at church, 2 new investigators every day and 18 every week. So we've got a ton of people to be visiting and people to find! But we really have seen a lot of miracles. Yesterday we were walking in the streets and this guy ran up to us and said "Elders, I saw you yesterday in the bus and now I saw you again. There is no way this is a coincidence. Is there any way you could pass by my house tomorrow?" We were like, OK!!  So we showed up today. His name is Jordan Gomez, he's 17, and before going no his mission his friend ga...

Oi que dicen mis seres queridos?!  So we had changes- and mi hijo Elder Velez and I are here another change!!! Which is good becasue I just paid for another month of our gym membership. This really is an incredible area- the members are awesome, and we're seeing a ton of miracles!!! We had a little boy named Anthony who was going to be baptized last week- well he randomly decided to go sightseeing with his aunt and uncle Sunday so he didn't come to church. But he should get baptized this Sunday, along with Monica Carillo! She was supposed to get baptized my first week here but her boyfriend hasn't been worthy until now. But everything is good and she's finally getting baptized! Also possibly a girl named Angie Cortez- she's 12 and got baptized when she was 8, but her records were lost so we might have to do it over again if we can't find them!! Bendita Guatemala! We had 9 investigators in church Sunday and they're all pretty positive so we'll ...

Hey everyone!!  We've had a pretty crazy week here in Barcenas. Elder Velez said he starts his journal entry every day with: "so here's what Elder Tadje did today..." haha Thursday we went to help the Hnas with some things at their house. As we were leaving, they told me the buttons on their microwave didn't work and asked if I could try to fix it. Of course I said yes- so I took it apart and in the end it wouldn't even turn on. So I must have gotten microwave karma or something cuz the next morning, we got back from the gym. I showered first, then made breakfast. I've been trying to eat healthier so I've made scrambled eggs every day! Our zone is also the only zone in the mission with WALMART!!!!! (I'd almost forgotten what that was) We went on Pday and found Poptarts!!! I had forgotten what those were too. I decided that poptarts would go well with my eggs, and thought why not try to throw one in the microwave. I read the box for instruction...