200 Days Out!

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! I'm gonna miss not having every person on the street yell 'Ay Canche!!' at me when I pass by!

This was another good week. Crazy how time passes so quickly- we already have changes in a week! I also hit 200 days out- so that was dope! I wrote a little last week about miracles. The biggest miracle I have seen is how this ward has welcomed and helped our converts Ceci and Berta (and Anlly and Kelly). The Hermanas from the Soc Soc (Relief Society) have been visiting them 2 or 3 times a week, they're included in a group of families that do weekly Family Home Evenings, they have been given baskets of food, the school supplies for Anlly, dresses, coats, hymn books (the chapels usually don't have hymn books because people steal them- you have to bring your own) scriptures and Hermana Hernandez helped Ceci find a job!! Seeing Ceci, Berta, Kelly, and Annly being welcomed into the ward so openly and completely has been absolutely amazing to see; and another testament to the spirit of Christ present in church members!

Another huge miracle we have seen was the baptism of Benjamin Corado! He is a 9 year old boy who is part of a family we've been working to reactivate. Benja was baptized this last Saturday and confirmed on Sunday.  I was blessed to be asked to baptize him in ice cold water again! The service was quiet and very spiritual, just us and bishop and Benjamin's family. There's always such a special feeling present during these Guatemalan baptisms- just pure peace. I absolutely love it!

Lately we've had some rough Sundays with regard to investigators. We've had 3 this change where no one showed up. I have been doing a lot of self evaluation and even self- comparison with other missionaries. Through doing this the only thing I've found is faults and shortcomings. Things I need to improve that others are doing better than me; like I'm not baptizing enough, not walking fast enough, not studying well enough, don't know enough of the members- a lot of small things, but I began finding faults in every aspect of my life. And I had a few weeks where I really started to get down on myself. I only focus on my errors. I was thinking about this one day during studies, when I read Ether 12:27- "If men come unto me I will show unto them their weaknesses. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble." It is always so easy to find the faults and imperfections in our own lives- seek and ye shall find, right? That was always my problem in sports; I could never keep from focusing on my mistakes and at times this made me miserable. It made me hate sports, which were everything for me. It's the same in our own lives- if we only focus on all we do bad we will be miserable. Because we will only see the faults. What I realized when I read that scripture, was that all my imperfections are gifts from God!! Every weakness I have is a blessing from Him to help me grow and progress. If we were already perfect, why would we be here? I promise that when we find our weaknesses, as we look past them and instead focus on God he will make the weak things strong unto us. He will mold us and make us into what he needs us to be. So remember- all your faults are blessings! 

I love you all so much, and thank you to everyone for the letters and support!!! Que les vaya superbien!

Elder Tadje