Elder Tadje in Guatemala

Buena semana todos!!!! A big warm hola from Elder Tadje and Elder Velez aqui en Barcenas!!!  So this week's been good- kinda crazy, but I'm starting to learn that's just how mission life is!!! Our area is awesome- the members love working with us, and love giving references!!! It's kinda weird, this has never happened before.... There were just some problems with the Elders before, so when I got here we didn't have any lunch. But we've started building bridges again, and we've been eating every day since then; and today one of our investigators is feeding us!!! That's when you know they're opening their hearts🌮 Our house is great, we spent two hours of pday cleaning which is a miracle cuz it's only one room 😂 haha there's one room to eat, sleep, study, exercise, everything. But it's made me realize that we don't really need more space, and how blessed we are in America. It's a lifestyle that the people here can't even...

Hey everyone!!!!! So kind of a crazy week. Things were great with Elder Williams, but we got a call from President yesterday that we had emergency changes!!!!! Elder Williams got transferred to the coast and an Elder Velez with 1 week in the mission is coming to be my companion!!! Which should be interesting cuz neither of us know the area haha, but con Dios nada es imposible!!!! Sorry that there's not time to write more, things have been crazy but that's the life!!!  But this area's awesome and the members are amazing, and I'm super excited for the next few weeks!!!Thank you all for the emails and the prayers they make all the difference!!! Elder Tadje

Hey everybody!!!  So crazy week- there's no scarier situation than being in a lesson and getting a text from President saying "call me!"But it ended up not being anything bad- just that we have changes!!!!! I've been transferred to Villa Nueva, an area called Barcenas 2 with Elder Williams from Panama- He has one change less than me in the mission, and he's been here since he started!! He's awesome- I'll send pictures next week!!! Our area literally is one massive hill, and somehow it's all uphill!!! There are no declines- just hiking straight up a mountain haha but the members are super awesome- really supportive and they love the missionaries!!! I'm super excited to be here, and we'll see how these next few weeks go!!! We have a baptism this Sunday. I have no idea who she is, and apparently I won't meet her until the baptism. But we got a baptism!!! haha Sorry I'll write more next week. It's been a l...

Hola! There's some scripture somewhere that says something like "como una vos del polvo"- and I feel like that's me; cuz holy cow there is dust here!! I don't even know why I still polish my shoes, as soon as I step outside they're brown. All the women, as part of taking care of houses, go out 2 or 3 times a day to throw bowls of water to water down their dirt- Or they just sweep it away. But beneath the dirt, there's just more dirt...😂 Guatemala in general is also a super dirty country; or at least the southern part. There's just garbage everywhere because there's no garbage cans, so everyone just throws everything on the ground. So the people sweep it into piles on the side of the road and light it all on fire and leave it! So Guatemalan streets are always a mix of dust and mud, flaming trash heaps, bus diesel fumes, cigarette smoke, and the occasional drunk passed out on the sidewalk. It's actually starting to be strangely comforting...