First Week in Argentina

¡Hola! Boy this has been quite a week. I got here and it has been a complete 180! Our pentciòn (apartment) is small but just what we need. The mission has started people! It is real! 

Elder Aldave (my trainer from Peru who speaks very little in English) and I are white washing our area. White washing means that missionaries have not been in this area and we are both new to the area. My first area is "Acevedo" It is hard but good. I will need it to kick my butt into shape. It is the Banfield Stake right in the City of Buenos Aires. There are 5 million people in my mission boundaries and our mission had 75 baptisms last month! My area is the rich and the slums. Also the houses do not have addresses.

I taught my very first lesson and I had my first Investigator breast feed! This is not something I am used to, and I mention this because my Dad had this same experience on his mission on his very first lesson as a missionary in Dominican Republic. I guess some things don’t change. 

I have tried Mate (Argentine Herbal Drink), Pizza, Sandwich de Mila, and a lot of other stuff I have no Idea what it is, but you eat it with a smile. 😊

   

One of the other Elders from the CCM that had some of my stuff for me took off after meeting our trainers, but he is a nice Elder that will bring it back for Zone Conference. I was allowed two suitcases 50 lbs. each and a carryon that could only be 17 lbs. If I was over the weight, I would be fined $250. We weren’t flying Delta. 

My two suitcases were 49 lbs. each and my carry on was 37 lbs. To make things even more interesting the Mexico City CCM gave each missionary 22 pounds of books so it was difficult for me to bring everything for two years that included winter clothes, a sleeping bag and big black muck boots in two suitcases. Thankfully there was a missionary that brought one suitcase, so he took my carry on and checked it as his second piece and some of my other items went in other suitcases.  

This was a challenge for all 16 missionaries, but we all helped each other out. We were all grateful that all of our items made it to Argentina, and I don’t plan to bring much of this stuff home. 

I would like to end on a good and spiritual note. I ask that you all read your scriptures with a purpose. By studying the scriptures for something specific not only helps you personally but helps you build a relationship with your Savior. Keep praying and studying your scriptures. 

Sorry I didn’t have a lot of time this week, but I want you all to know I love you and I feel your prayers back at home. 

Elder Hadley 

We received these great pictures with a wonderful letter from President and Hermana Fernandez when Elder Hadley arrived in the mission.

Hermana Fernandez, Elder Hadley, Elder Aldave and President Fernandez

From the BAS Mission Instagram Page

The new BAS Missionaries with their Trainers!

Goodbye to my room in Mexico City

One of my last meals in Mexico CCM

I am sure going to miss my Cooking Brothers!

Ready for Argentina! 

We are ready for a long night of flying!

My District in Argentina

Home Sweet Home

View to the right...

... and view from the left!

Mi Casa

The Kitchen

The Bathroom

Showers should be interesting without a handle

Dulce de Leche what I have been looking forward to!

Elder Hadley and Elder Aldave
It is winter and cold here in Argentina!

Food at my Desk

Where I spend my study time

Mom Note:  These next 3 pictures we received through Messenger from members in Argentina

This was Elder Hadley's first day in the mission from Marfa G Sanchez. So thankful for Hermana Sanchez as this was our very first picture of him in Argentina that we received! 

This was also from Hermana Sanchez a couple days later. She told us that Elder Hadley is doing very well and his Spanish is almost perfect! 

This picture came from Juana De Arco and was Sunday Dinner.  We are so grateful for these wonderful members who take care of our missionaries! 💗

Elder Hadley flew from Mexico City to Panama City for 4 hours. Then after a short layover flew 7 hours to Buenos Aires arriving at 7:00am.  We tracked his flight from our vacation in Florida and loved that for a couple hours, while Parker was in Panama City, we were in the same time zone! 😂

Suitcase Packin' Game

¡Hola! Well first off this is my last week in Mexico and my last P-day here at the CCM!!! It has been crazy here. I was called as the Assistant Travel Leader to get 16 Elders to Argentina!!! Flying with all your crap for 2 years is so freakin hard! Trying to get weight for everything is also hard but we all are working together so none of us need to pay extra! The fee for extra weight is $250 and our carry-ons can only be 17 pounds!

This last week we have been learning about different ways to teach different topics and utilize the Preach My Gospel to develop stronger and more meaningful questions for more investigators. Me and Elder Fuge did a killer job with our Mock Skype Calls. So ya.... it’s been fun. Jaja 

District 5A is ready to get down to business in Argentina and get working. The Boeing 737 down to Argentina will be the Party Plane with a bunch of Missionaries!!! 

This week hasn't been too exciting besides getting everyone's suitcases to weight and just packing but I’d love to end with a Spiritual thought. 

This Last week we have been talking about being the best missionary. I know most of you are not full-time missionaries but anyways. I have found the more we serve the more peace we have in our lives. I was teaching a lesson with Elder Fuge and we asked the question of "What do you feel when you follow through with our commitments?" and she has said Paz y Gozo = peace and joy. 

I know the more we put in to our relationship with Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and his children we can feel more Paz y gozo in our lives and recognize the blessings they have given us. Continue to work hard and I want you all to know I love you all and thank you for being great examples to me!!!

Te amo, Elder Hadley 

Saying Goodbye Picture with our teacher Hermana Benavides
District 5A

Starting to say goodbye to my Cooking Bros!

There is a crazy statue that anyone who has served at the Mexico CCM has seen this and it is on the outside of the walls. You can't miss it! I wanted to take a picture of it before I left and this week Mexico decided they were going to start building right in front of it!  So I got my buddies to pose for me and below is a picture of the statue that Elder Davis, another missionary going to my mission, took a few weeks ago.   Enjoy!

Last Package to get me through the last week of CCM!

Mom Note:  The company in Mexico that we have used to send treats has not been able to get or find Mountain Dew Code Red for 3 weeks.  I emailed the company the first week asking if they would get more.  They responded that Elder Hadley also had been asking them for it and they have been searching all over Mexico City for it.
During Elder Hadley last week I received an email that they had found 8 cans of Code Red in Mexico City and they had just given all of them to Elder Hadley! Bless the people of Mexico for watching out for our Elder! 😂

Pouring Buckets of Rain!

Happy Birthday Elder Fuge!
I gave him one of my Dr. Peppers 😁 

Let the Packing Party Begin!

This picture is for Elder Mesake!
It means "Die for Tonga" a Rugby Term 👊

Goodbye Mexico City CCM!

All the countries represented in the CCM!

The Argentina Flag!

Mom Note: This picture was from our monitor on our flight to Florida!
It was fun to see Mexico City on the map!

This email was written on August 15th while we were in Disney World and it also happened to be my birthday!  It was a great day to receive pictures and an email on his last P-Day in the CCM!

Later in the day after Fireworks in front of Cinderella's Castle Parker video called us to wish me a Happy Birthday and our whole family was able to speak with him in Gaston's Tavern in the Magic Kingdom!  Parker enjoyed showing all of Gaston's Antlers on the walls to the other missionaries!  Such a fun memory and the best birthday present ever!

They Close the Cafeteria on Fast Sunday?!

¡Hola! This week in the CCM has been a good one! We understand everything and are getting ready to say goodbye to Mexico City and Hola to Buenos Aires! 

So, this last Tuesday we thought we were going to be broadcasted the devotional from Provo, but it ended getting canceled for some odd reason.

District 5A has been balling it up with Volleyball every day and boy, we got ourselves a dream team!

Español is coming. Yesterday my companion and I taught a member over Skype yesterday and we got talking and forgot about the spiritual message and quickly taught her in like 2 mins. Jaja

For those who know Elder Hadley they know he doesn't stop socializing... it doesn't stop in Spanish either. My teachers keep asking me to follow the class, but it is so hard not to hop around and ask questions with other workers, teachers, and other missionaries too!

My teacher thought it would be a great Idea to tie Elder Fuge and Elder Hadley with a rope together so that we would be on time and I wouldn't run off talking to someone. Jaja We are working hard to stay together.

Since we are getting close to our departure date, we all thought it would be great to get ideas on how to start to teach The Law of Chasity (La Ley de Castidad). Sometimes the topic can be turned into an awkward situation, but we dove in and learned more vocabulary and how simple it is to teach a Sacred Law. We felt more comfortable with the topic and to teach it en Español!

On Sunday we listened to a past devotional of Elder Christofferson on Revelation and how to utilize it in our every day. I was in and out of this devotional but the one thing that stood out to me the most is he gave us an optional formula that we could use to receive more revelation. 

The formula is:
1. Increase Purity
2. Exact Obedience
3. Feast on the Word of Christ
4. Show Gratitude all the time
The result will be that the Heavens will be opened unto you.

This week is the just like the last one a lot of classes and a great but very Hungry Fast Sunday here at the CCM! I didn’t ever think of this, but they close down the cafeteria here at the CCM on Fast Sunday!  But through my hunger I was able to share my testimony in Sacrament Meeting.

I'd like to finish with a quick spiritual thought then I'll let you all go back to your busy lives! Our Tuesday Devotional ended up being on "Becoming a Disciple of Christ". These devotionals are all at the end of the day and are a little tricky to stay attentive at but I really enjoyed a quote that was shared that night. Elder Jeffery R. Holland said,

1. Be Strong
2. Live the Gospel Faithfully
3. Defend your Beliefs

I challenge each and every one of you to find ways to show that you are a Disciple of Christ and to find ways to serve like he did to all. Love you all and Look forward to writing about my last week here at the CCM!

Te Amo, 

Elder Hadley

My Cooking Brothers!
Abraham, Omar, Marco, Elder Hadley, Jason and Estevan!

Jason pats my belly and says, "Do you have a big testimony?
You need to feed your testimony every day!" 😂

Jason bought me this Soccer Jersey from Mexico so I could have a jersey from a real soccer team when I go to Argentina! 😁

Elder Aston, Elder Bailey, Elder Hadley, Elder Crane and Elder Folkman

Elder Trey Baggett from Davis High School with Elder Aston photo bombing

A view of some of the Casas at the CCM

Elder Hadley with his new haircut!

My home away from home

Elder Mesake my Polynesian Brother!!!

If you would like to communicate with Elder Hadley his email is:   phadley@missionary.org

Eat, Class, Eat, Class and Repeat!

¡Hola! This last week has been great! Elder Fuge and I have been able to teach a bunch of mock investigators. Every day we all are getting better at the language. We are now on week 4 of 6 in the CCM. We all are kinda ready to head to Argentina and be done but also need to learn a lot more. 

We all said "Goodbye!" to the Latino district in our branch. Most of them were the ones who spoke with me in the Sacrament program the last week. They are gonna do great all throughout Mexico. Some of the other missionaries decided to give one of them a haircut with their shaving kits. They did a great job considering none of them have cut hair before and were using these small razors. I teased my Mom this week and told her I was the next haircut they were giving. 

Not too much to talk about this week just with going to class, eating, then more class. Jaja

I'd like to end with a spiritual thought I had this earlier this week. The Sunday Night Devotional was based off of the Temple, the Lord’s house. I've only gone through a couple of times but hearing the word spoken that night made me want to learn more and just go to the temple as much as I can. Obviously, I'm on my mission but for you folks back home I ask you all to find time to go to the temple sometime this upcoming week. I have a strong testimony of temple work and for families living together in immortality and throughout eternal life. (Moses 1:39, For behold, this is my work and my glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.) 

I love you all and I feel your love here in Mexico City! I say these things in the Name of our savior, Jesucristo Amén!

Elder Hadley

Eagle Bay Elementary Spanish Immersion Students
These three great missionaries have known each other since Kindergarten when they were first introduced to the Spanish Language and now here they are ready to serve our Heavenly Father and the Latino Culture! 💗
Elder Noah Montoya, Elder Parker Hadley, Elder Britton Anderson

(Elder Hadley sporting another Eddy Hogan Original Tie! Parker said the Missionaries love his ties because they are as big as his face!)

More great friends from Home
Elder Parker Hadley, Elder Britton Anderson, Elder Trey Baggett, Elder Noah Montoya

Class...

Elder Bailey, Elder Aston, Elder Hurst

Eat.....

Jason got extra Ice Cream at dinner for Elder Hadley again

and Class Repeat!

Elder Bailey, Elder Aston, Elder Hurst and
 Elder Fuge up close and personal with the study manual.

Elder Hadley's Amazing District 5A and the Latino District in his Branch that left the
CCM this week!
Elder Hadley is in the middle with the bunny ears 😆

Mom Note: Elder Hadley told us that little bug friends at night like to climb up and out the shower drain.  Since we have been told that Elder Hadley likes to stay up late and talk about finances and investments every night with his District for hours he is the last one to shower.  It is his job to cover up the shower drain each night! 👀