Elche is famous for something?

Hola a todos,

This week was awesome, but a sad end to my training. We have transfers this week, and Élder Whitehead is leaving to A Coruña way up north. I have loved having Élder Whitehead as my trainer, I have learned so much from him. My new companion is Élder Monsalve, he is from Chile, and speaks Spanish perfectly! I am so excited because I know he can help me with my Spanish a lot! 

Little miracle this week, we were in the streets on our way back to piso towards the end of the day. And on our way back, a Venezuelan family contacted us. They stopped us and wanted to know more information. There were 3 of them, and the father had worked with members of the church in Venezuela and has gotten to know the church a little that way. We met with them this week, and we are excited for their potential. 

I read this scripture found in 1 Nephi 7:12. Some context, this is when Nephi, his brothers, and the family of Ishmael are traveling through the wilderness, and Laman and Lemuel started to complain. I can't blame them, but I'm sure it got old. I really like how Nephi is just so blunt and straight to his brothers. Kind of an Elder Holland type of a feel to it if you read it with his voice. It says:

12 Yea, and how is it that ye have forgotten that the Lord is able to do all things according to his will, for the children of men, if it so be that they exercise faith in him? Wherefore, let us be faithful to him.

Pretty clear no? The scriptures have been written for our day, so whenever reading scriptures, always ask yourself what can I learn from this scripture. How can I apply it into my own life? And for me, although there may be things that don't seem to be going the way I would like, I must remember that it is all according to the will of God and that I just need to remain faithful. 

Until next week! 

Élder Van Wagenen

God Bless America, Viva la España

Fotos:

1. RIP Whitehead 

2. La dame de Elche museum 

3. I saw a z400 in the streets of Elda and had to get a pic

4. I made pancakes! They don't really have this enjoyment of life here, so it was a little more difficult to make it. But it was great! 

 5. So this is what Elche is famous for. Right there is exactly where la dama de Elche was found. Why it's so significant, I know not, but it's a statue of curious workmanship and is thousands of years old. The real one is in Madrid. 

L'illa Prohibida!

Hola a todos!

This week has been a great week in Spain! With our day of finding successes, we have been teaching English and incorporating the Gospel so much! We have back to back appointments, we just wish there were more hours in the day! But I am grateful that we have this work and service to do!

This week we had a family home evening with a beast family who is from Columbia. We talked about our Savior Jesus Christ, and his attributes. (hope, charity, love, virtue, knowledge, patience, humility, diligence, obedience, just to name a few). It was a really awesome visit. We read a short passage of scriptures, Luke 8:41-56, and identified that we could find almost every attribute I listed above in just those verses. And then we talked about how we could better ourselves on one of those attributes, because really, we are trying to become more like Jesus Christ. He was our example, and we should do everything we can do be more like him. So an invitation for all of you, do the same. Read your favorite story of Jesus, and point out as many attributes as you can find. And then, pick one, and improve that one. It's a really cool thing to apply and see changes in your life. So try it! 

Until next week! 

Élder Van Wagenen 

God Bless America, Viva la España

Fotos:

1. We played Forbidden Island, L'illa Prohibida, but the game and instructions were in Catalan. So it was a fun experience.

2. We don't really have a functioning oven, but I was convinced to make cookies. Our kitchenware is not impressive, and they look like a mess, but they were great!

3. Did we build a fort in our piso? Maybe. 

Be diligent!

Hola a todos!

Another great week in Spain! This week was a little tougher because the cold has been spreading and it gladly came into our piso, so me and my companion have been fighting that, but we are feeling much better. Yesterday, we had a día de encontrar (day of finding). We had one of these last transfer, and our goal last time was to get 10 numbers, and we got 15 numbers, so we made a goal to get 20 numbers. That is a big number, and when we started to work, it was a little discouraging. But, we kept working and we talked to a lot of people in the streets. And through our efforts, the Lord blessed us with 30 numbers! It was an awesome experience, and I learned that if we work hard, even grind a little, the Lord always will bless us and we can and will see success. 

On a similar note, a scripture that reminded me of that was in Doctrine and Covenants 90:24, it says:

24 Search diligently, pray always, and be believing, and all things shall work together for your good, if ye walk uprightly and remember the covenant wherewith ye have covenanted one with another.

I can testify of this, that if we do these things, we put in our effort and have the faith and desire, all things shall work together for our good. And I love it when things work for the good! I hope everyone has had a great week, and remember that God loves you! 

Élder Van Wagenen 

God Bless America, Viva la España 

A new decade is among us!

Hola a todos!

This week was great. I hope everyone had a very happy new year! This week we had zone conference in Valencia. I will say Valencia is very pretty! We had a great conference. President Galli asked us a pretty deep thinking question:  whether the opposite of faith is certainty or doubt. And we had a long discussion about it and related it to ourselves and the people we are teaching. I personally think it is more certainty because Alma 32:21 says faith is not having a perfect knowledge of things. Therefore helping the certainty argument, but it was a great discussion!

In light of the new year, we have all made, are making, or are telling ourselves we will, make goals or resolutions. Visions to achieve, goals to accomplish, etc. And something I thought I'd share with y'all is SMART goals. I learned this principle at NYLT, and have been able to use it at school, work, home, and most certainly here in the mission field. It's an acronym, standing for:

Specific

Measurable

Attainable 

Relevant 

Timely

I have found that when I use this acronym and apply it to my goals by making them "smarter" I find I am more likely to achieve them. I found this quote the other day while studying Preach my Gospel, and I thought it related to goals and this time of year:

“I am so thoroughly convinced that if we don’t set goals in our life and learn how to master the techniques of living to reach our goals, we can reach a ripe old age and look back on our life only to see that we reached but a small part of our full potential. When one learns to master the principles of setting a goal, he will then be able to make a great difference in the results he attains in this life.”

–President M. Russell Ballard

I hope you have all had a great week and a great start to the new decade. Until next week! 

Élder Van Wagenen 

God Bless America, Viva la España

Fotos:

1. Valencia!

2. Churro night with some friends

 3. The train ride back from Valencia. He was exhausted!

4. Cooking up some steak in piso

 5. Our ward activity, very well attended. Guess we should have

 not had it on New Year's Day