Buena Semana Todos!

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 imagine. 

My companion is awesome- his name's Elder Velez, and he's from Texas but his parents are from Mexico. So Spanish was his first language, it's just been awhile since he's spoken it. But he's super cool- and 25 years old! He already graduated college with his bachelors, and was the head HR rep of a company before the mission but sacrificed it all to come here. And that's something that I'm really seeing in this area, the sacrifices. And sacrifices really do bring forth the blessings of heaven!!! Something that I've learned recently is that every investigator has a price that has to be paid- or a sacrifice to be made. And that has to be a covenant with the Lord. With some it's contact every bus we ride on, or contact 60 people each in one day instead of 35, or find 5 new investigators every day instead of 2, but every one has a sacrifice. And that's how it is in the life. Our entire life is a process of change- we just need to be making the changes for the better. And to reach our goals and accomplish what we and the Lord wants, he asks us to make sacrifices. It's like the rich young man said to Jesus- his entire life he had been keeping the commandments and living righteously. But this wasn't enough, there was no change. So the Lord asked him to sacrifice all that he had to follow Him. So it is with us. 

What does the Lord ask of us? What is the sacrifice we need to make? Is the Lord and our love for him worth enough to us to change??  What lack I yet?

I promise that as we ask ourselves these questions, the Lord will provide the answers. And as we follow these answers and make the sacrifices He asks of us, we will draw closer to Him and progress in our path to eternal progression. 

I love all of you so much, thank you all for the support and prayers and emails!!!!

From the Land of the Speedbump,

Elder Tadje